Chapter 11: Semi-Phenomenal Cosmic Powered Nuisance
Arzin made his way further inland, walking towards the hut where Tani said his niece and her mother would be. It was true that Miza lived with Arzin - it was so that he could keep a close eye on her, take care of her where Miza's mother, Yirya, couldn't. Not because she wouldn't take care of her, but Yirya had met a cruel fate before Ezele met his own end.
About a year before the incident that killed Ezele, the Deathseeker attacked the town in the middle of the night, which left the villagers scrambling for shelter. Yirya had been bitten by one of the demon's long limbs as she'd protected one of the other children of the village. The demon's attention was taken up by several of the villagers - including Arzin - distracting the demon from attacking Yirya further. Arzin wasn't sure if it was a reaction to the magic or a poison from the Deathseeker, but Yirya had been in a coma-like sleep ever since that day. Ezele was distraught, but loyally brought his daughter to visit Yirya, up to the day that Arzin saw Ezele's life taken by the Deathseeker.
Arzin felt better when Miza visited her mother. He never restricted her from seeing Yirya, especially since the residence was far enough from the shore. Yet, as he stood at the half opened door to the room where Miza sat at her mother's bedside, he quickly realized he wouldn't like the conversation between them. She held her mother's hand gently in hers, speaking as if her mother were alert and listening to every word Miza said.
"...You would have liked him, Mama. I wish you could've met him. He was really strong, brave, smart, funny...and most people in the village really liked him too. Aladdin wasn't here for very long, but...it's like he could've been a part of our village if he hadn't grown up in Agrabah. I wonder what that was like...living in an actual city with multiple merchants and travelers." Miza paused, thinking long about something. "Miza thinks she'll go traveling someday. Aladdin had told me he and Jasmine have travelled all over the seven deserts. Uncle Arzin won't like those plans, but Miza thinks he'll have to live with it." She pouted, but her expression changed to one of melancholy, so much that Arzin could see her eyes shining with unshed tears.
"Miza misses Aladdin. Miza wishes...I wish the Deathseeker didn't take so many people away from us. I wish he hadn't taken you away. Or Papa. I wish he hadn't taken away Uncle Arzin either. I miss him too."
But I'm still alive, Arzin wanted to say. He felt his anger boil again. Didn't she realize how much he was doing to protect her? What had she meant by him being taken away by the Deathseeker? And it was always Aladdin, Aladdin, Aladdin. Aladdin's name had been breathed at least once by every villager in Gloloria for the past day. Some observed Arzin's gruff expression at the mention and had fallen silent when he passed, but he could hear the whispered stories the former street urchin had told them in passing.
That was yet another reason why Arzin hated Aladdin - he had given them hope that things would change. That the Deathseeker could actually be defeated. It was a hope that Arzin hadn't seen since his brother was alive. He hated that, for just one moment, he'd thought differently as well.
How wrong he was.
He turned and left his niece to be alone with her mother. He decided the sooner the Agrabah group left town for good, the better.
He wouldn't hesitate to speed their exit if he had to.
It had been more than a full day since the Deathseeker's attack, and Jasmine woke before dawn to search the coastline, both above and beneath the waves. In great news for the town, the Deathseeker had not emerged from the ocean since the group fought against it. However, there was no sign of Aladdin or Genie either.
Jasmine found it hard to have hope when it seemed everyone else in town was certain of their demise. Carpet had been reluctant to take her to the shoreline just outside of the town's vicinity, but she wouldn't give up. She'd left Iago and Abu to finish packing at Tani's hut. Today would be the last day she could...would do any searches before going back to Agrabah. Tani had convinced her to rest from the searches long enough to recover her strength, but Jasmine felt she hadn't truly slept. She wouldn't since she didn't feel like reliving the Deathseeker's attack in her dreams.
After emerging from the ocean from a long dive, Jasmine saw something that caught her eye on the surface of the waves. She swam quickly, grabbing it just before it sank. As she emerged from the water, she opened her hand to see a familiar sight, one that nearly took her breath away. She poured the water out of it, before cradling it between her palms like a lotus flower.
Carpet had been flying impatiently along the shoreline, but stopped and peered over Jasmine's shoulder when he realized she'd found something. "It's Aladdin's fez," she said softly. "It must've washed up from the current. First sign of either of them we've seen in the past day. I'm surprised it's not more damaged than it is." She looked up at Carpet. "Do you think I'm wasting my time, Carpet? Do you think they're really...?" She couldn't finish the thought, her eyes welling with tears. Carpet gave her a hug, his knobs stroking the top of Jasmine's dampened hair as she started to cry, long quiet sobs that she'd held back only because she was more focused on the search.
When she pulled away, she nodded to Carpet. "Let's keep looking. It may that we won't like what we find but I can't stop searching until I know what happened to them. If we don't find them by sunset, then...we'll leave for Agrabah and let Father know what happened."
Carpet nodded, his knobs drooping with his own sadness.
Aladdin's eyes widened at the man in front of him; he couldn't move, not even to shake Ezele's hand. "It can't be. You're...alive?"
Ezele raised one eyebrow at Aladdin. "Last time I checked. You know who I am, it seems."
"Yeah, I was staying in Gloloria when..." Aladdin stopped, trying to find his words. "You're Tani's son, Arzin's brother, Miza's father..."
Ezele's face paled in the dim firelight of the room. It took a while for him to find his words, his voice more quiet and pondering. "How long has it been?"
"Five years. How did you survive all this time?"
Ezele nodded, his brow narrowed. "If you're feeling up to it, follow me. I'll show you."
Aladdin donned the clothes that Ezele had given him and followed the man through the winding curves of his makeshift home. Ezele talked as the moved through the path. Aladdin was stunned to see several rooms that were decorated with handmade furnishings, and even a room where Ezele had dedicated the area to growing plants that didn't need sunlight. "If I were a man who had claustrophobic tendencies or lacked training in growing healing plants and food, I would not have survived down here long. I used to have a similar role when I lived in Gloloria with my family. I helped the village with medicines and growing a prosperous farm. A run in with the Deathseeker changed all that, of course. There were a few others down here who rescued me when I was near death."
"What happened to them?" Aladdin was almost afraid to ask.
"It's as you think. The Deathseeker got to them, but only because they stayed near the entrance to the portal. Still, your Genie made it through, as did you. Perhaps..." Ezele stopped walking, turning to look back at Aladdin over his shoulder. "If there's any chance to return to the surface, it may lie with the two of you. Your Genie doesn't seem to be one that could die at the hands of the Deathseeker."
"He's semi-phenomenal, nearly cosmic powered, I'm still worried Genie will get hurt even with that advantage." Aladdin said. "But I know Genie would give the Deathseeker a hard time. Enough to give us time to figure out how to destroy it."
Ezele laughed. "Semi-phenomenal cosmic powered nuisance. I like it."
Aladdin grinned. "I like it too. If Genie were here, I bet he'd like the title." His smile faded as quickly as it came. He looked back towards the way they came, down the tunnel to the place where he knew the portal lie.
"You really are worried about him," Ezele mused, turning to Aladdin and folding his arms across his chest.
"Not just him," Aladdin admitted. "I'm worried about everyone on the surface. In Gloloria. My friends...if the Deathseeker gets to them, I don't know what to think."
"Aladdin, you're in no condition..."
"Don't tell me that I can't fight!" Aladdin said, his brows narrowed. "I have to try. We've managed to weaken the Deathseeker once, we can do it again. If we were able to do that, then there's gotta be a way to destroy it. I know that much." He took a shaky breath. "I know another thing too - if the Deathseeker expects me to just stay down here and die, it's wrong."
Ezele didn't say it aloud, but he was impressed with Aladdin's nerve to march into what was certain danger. He also worried that if Aladdin knew of his concerns and his intent to stop Aladdin from doing anything rash, the prince would march ahead even with the wounds that still covered his body. He knew then there was only one option for them to take.
Ezele groaned and threw up his hands in exasperation, but Aladdin quickly realized Ezele's actions were humored. "Well then, I suppose we have no choice. We may be fools about to march to our doom against an all-powerful former god that is even giving a semi-phenomenal Genie a hard time. BUT!" He walked to Aladdin's side, putting his arm around the prince's shoulders. "We'll just have to find our way out of here, won't we?"
Aladdin nodded. "Right. Let's go."
Aladdin and Ezele made their way back to the portal, though Aladdin realized Ezele lagged behind, seemingly weary of the dimensional object that stood before them.
"You okay, Ezele?" Aladdin asked.
The man reached a hand behind his head, his eyes downcast. "Forgive me. It's been...years. The way out has always been here, but I feared the thing that lay behind it. There's no telling that it may be lingering there now."
Aladdin admitted to himself that's what kept him from going more than a foot's length to the portal. He hadn't remember arriving in this dimension, but he remembered the pain well enough. His hand found one of the wounds at his side, patched up by the healing leaves Ezele used. The wound wasn't as bad, but he could feel a dull ache lingering enough to bother him.
"It may still be on the other side, but we have to try something," Aladdin said, taking several steps forward until he was at arms length from the portal. He reached his hand out until it grazed the opening, then went through, making the portal shimmer.
Ezele's mouth dropped open. "You're probably the first who's been able to walk right up to it and do that. Most have tried to rush through it, only to be thrown right back inside this dimension. Your Genie had quite a time with it coming in."
Aladdin shook his head. "Something tells me that getting through this portal isn't as easy as just stepping through. This dimension might be one world, but on the other side of this is a whole ocean. There has to be something...what?" Aladdin felt a sudden pressure against his body, and before he knew it, the force of the magic portal threw him off his feet backward, making him yell in shock and pain. He hit the ground hard enough to rattle his teeth.
"Aladdin!" Ezele rushed to Aladdin's side as the prince groaned.
"Guess I should've expected that. Ow. I'm good, just sore."
Ezele sighed, helping the prince to his feet. "I don't think you would've noticed because you were too close to it. Look, something's trying to come in."
The two of them stepped back as the glowing portal started flashing with quicker intensity. Sure enough, something shot out of it so quickly that it flew over both Aladdin and Ezele's heads, making them dive to the ground impulsively. It wasn't until Aladdin looked that he noticed the familiar blue form in an impression that was already made in the rocky wall that he realized who it was.
"Genie! You're okay!" Aladdin said, getting to his feet and rushing over to his friend.
Genie was a little too stunned at first, needing Aladdin and Ezele both to pull him away from the rocky, underground wall. Several cartoon birds flew around Genie's head in a halo to show how dizzy the semi-phenomenal being was.
When Genie came to his senses, he beamed at the sight of Aladdin. "AL! YOU'RE OKAY! My buddy, my pal." He took Aladdin in his massive arms and gave the prince a hug that wasn't exactly kind on Aladdin's wounds. Aladdin winced.
"I would say I'm still in one piece. Not so tight, Genie."
Ezele chuckled, shaking his head. "He's still recovering, and it may be a while before he's fully healed, even with my curatives."
Genie set Aladdin gently down onto the ground. "Sorry kid. Got a little choked up there considering how bad off you were when we came here. Wish I could've stayed here longer to thank...wait...I don't think I got your name, unless I've lived one too many millenia and been through enough trauma in the last several days to forget your name." He turned to Ezele, who shrugged.
Aladdin nodded. "There probably wasn't enough time for you guys to get introduced. "Genie, this is Ezele. Ezele, Genie."
Genie's mouth dropped all the way to the floor. "Seriously? He's..."
"Tani's son, Arzin's brother, Miza's father." Ezele said, deadpanning. "Aladdin filled me in on how he knew me earlier on."
Genie had a horrified expression on his face. "So...either I've gone to Genie Heaven from one too many encounters with the Deathseeker and you two are here, or we're all alive and Ezele's been trapped down here for five years."
Aladdin rolled his eyes. "I don't know if there's really a 'Genie Heaven' or not, but we're all still here. Alive."
Genie wiped his brow. "Phew. Good to know."
"That leaves a few questions - where's the Deathseeker now? What happened while you were beyond the portal?" Ezele asked.
Genie's expression grew more somber. "Well, it's not like I could swim more than several strides before running into the Deathseeker. Good news is that he's definitely weakened from where we attacked him on the beach. Bad news...well, there's three parts to the bad news." Genie held up four fingers at first, but corrected himself, sporting a sly grin to boot.
Aladdin folded his arms across his chest, speaking in warning tone. "Genie..."
"I'm not trying to hide it, it's just...well..." Genie winced. "How do I put this? The lesser of the bad news is that I wasn't able to reach the surface at all. So Jasmine and the others probably think something horrible happened to the two of us. I would say three of us, but everyone thinks Ezele's dead and I didn't know his name until now. Sorry, Ezele."
Ezele groaned. "Go on, what's the other two pieces of 'worst' news?"
"Second piece: the Deathseeker's regaining some of its strength from being in the water. We definitely weakened it, but some of its limbs were able to grow back and it took more than a few chunks out of me with its teeth. I don't think you guys would've been so lucky if you tangled with it."
"What's the third thing?" Aladdin said, swallowing a hard lump in his throat.
Genie spoke so fast that Aladdin couldn't catch what the semi-phenomenal being said, but Ezele got the message, his expression turning to one of alarm.
"Wait, what? I didn't hear him." Aladdin said. "Genie, you did that on purpose!"
"Only because we don't really have time to discuss it," Ezele said, pointing to the portal. "It followed Genie in. It's here." Aladdin found his own breath hitched as he heard the hiss before seeing two of the Deathseeker's limbs emerging from the portal.
I smell your blood, Prince of Agrabah. Death awaits you, as do I. The Deathseeker's voice spoke directly into Aladdin's mind, leaving him frozen for a moment that was too long.
"Al, get back!" Genie cried.
Even as Aladdin tried to leap out of the path of one of the limbs that lunged at him, he wasn't prepared for the second limb. Genie managed to wrestle the first away, tying it into a large, spiny knot that couldn't wiggle free. But at the same moment, the second limb bit into Aladdin's arm with its razor sharp teeth.
"Genie!" Aladdin yelled as the Deathseeker's limb pulled him quickly towards the portal.