A/N: firstly, many thanks to the readers who have noticed I've put up new chapters. You guys must have radar! It was almost immediately after I uploaded them that the site showed ppl were reading them! That's awesome! Anyways, I hope to get some new reviewers **hint! Hint!** but I do agree w/ hpets25, everyone who reads is a supporter. So…thx for supporting! Hope you're all still enjoying! If you reviewed, I'd know for sure! :P Anyways, onward!
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Aladdin & the Heirs of Magic Ch. 25: The Emerald Mantle
"I don't know why I remembered this now," Aladdin confessed his eyes glassy and expression…distant.
They all sat on cushions near Mozenrath. Jasmine wanted to be near enough to watch his breathing; Sadira and Genie had done wonders in mending his body.
But, Sadira had left them to retrieve the fabled Elixir of Life; Mozenrath's mind had been reduced to shattered rubble by Desdane's tortures. Only a potion of such legendary power as the Elixir, Sadira had said, was capable of healing him.
Otherwise he'd be condemned to insanity for the rest of his life. And…that only left the terrible option of killing him before he awakened and destroyed the world.
She had relayed she and Sadira's conversation outside—editing out Sadira's teasing her of course; she was sure Aladdin didn't want or need to hear that, and neither did her dignity—only to have Iago grouse about 'Desdane couldn't possibly have driven him crazy; he was that years ago!'—
And of course, Xerxes had chased him around, trying out of anger to bite him before Genie poofed into an Animal Control officer and broke it up.
"Remembered what? Was it about Farid?"
She glanced at Genie; Aladdin hadn't told him about his family, so far as she knew. She gave a questioning look to her intended.
"I told Genie, Jaz."
Jasmine nodded. "Was it the quake?"
Aladdin nodded, rubbing the back of his neck; an old habit. "Yeah, I don't know why…but it reminded me of how our house shook that night."
"What did you remember?" she kept her voice as calm and soothing as she could. Her father had been kidnapped enough times that she knew how nightmarish it was to lose family this way.
But thankfully, blessedly, they had always managed to rescue the sultan. Aladdin didn't share that good fortune.
"Well," he began, exhaling a deep breath, told them the tale.
It was late. Aladdin was nearly asleep, but…it hadn't been the shaking of their house that had propelled him to wakefulness.
It had been his brother's screams.
He heard the peel of Farid's first scream an instant before the entire neighborhood began to quake.
But then…it was as though he was upstairs, standing beside his brother.
It was so bizarre; Aladdin had never felt anything even close to it until he had shared his body for a time with Mozenrath…but even as he was aware of himself sitting up in bed, even as he saw his mother come crashing into his room while he sobbed in fear…he could see upstairs and Farid in his mind as clearly as he could see his mother in front of him.
Farid had dived behind the table he had been reading at when the shaking started; he was screaming for their parents…when the west wall blasted in.
Farid screamed again and ducked under the table, till it lifted itself off the ground and flung to one side.
It collided with the wall and broke apart with a loud crash; Farid back up against the wall…trembling.
A man stood within the round opening made by the explosion.
His feet weren't standing on the stone though; but thin air.
He was a black silhouette; only the glinting of red eyes from beneath a large hood were visible.
"Come with me," a gravelly voice commanded.
Farid yelped and made to run, but his legs were frozen. He yanked harder and harder as the shadow drew near him.
"Mother! Father!" Farid yelled in total panic the shadow loomed over him.
"Stubborn, rebellious," the voice mused, "but so overflowing with power. You'll do very well."
Farid struggled fiercely as the shadow reached for him; Farid bit his arm as he took the boy's shoulder-
The shadow struck him hard, across the face; blood spattered from his nose and lip, marring his book, which lay nearby.
With that, the shadow seized Farid, who yelled-
For Aladdin.
"Brother! Help me!"
And in a burst of crimson light; his brother and the shadow were gone.
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"And the rest you already know," Aladdin mumbled, despondent, rubbing his face with one hand, propping himself on his knee with the other.
Abu made some sympathetic noises, sitting on Al's one leg; he reached up and patted his larger friend's arm comfortingly. Al gave him a sad smile and petted his head.
"It's incredible," Jasmine breathlessly said after a few moments, "I don't understand it though; you don't have magic…."
Al swallowed. "But from what the shadow said, Farid did."
Genie seemed thoughtful. "You know, guys, if Al's brother did have magic, in a moment like that, his magic could have been trying to find a way to save him. Maybe it showed Al what was happening so Al could help him."
"Brother! Help me!"
Aladdin flinched. His brother had been taken; abducted.
And he had done nothing.
Some hero he was.
Jasmine read his thoughts on his face. "What could you have done, Aladdin?"
It wasn't a question; Al caught that in her tone. It was a plea.
A plea to understand; he had been three. There was nothing he could have done to save Farid.
"I could have told mother," he said anyways.
"Al," it was Genie who gently forced reality onto him, "the man, whoever he was, took your brother almost instantly. By the time you told anyone, firstly, they wouldn't have believed you, not then; and he would have been long gone by then anyhow. Jaz's right."
Al soberly nodded; his face ashen, his shoulders slouched with the weight of regret.
"I wanted to help him."
"We know that Aladdin," Jasmine softly replied. "And I'm sure Farid knew that too."
"Hero," Xerxes said, gliding over to them. He stopped beside Jasmine's shoulder. He seemed conflicted, as if unsure whether he should or should not say what he intended.
"You may say whatever you please," Jasmine assured the eel; hoping that would set him at ease.
"Oh, sure," Iago muttered, "the eel can say whatever he wants."
Abu only sighed and put in, "Hwe not talk awl time."
Iago only sputtered.
"Xerxes think hero brother maybe alive," the eel avowed softly, coiled up in hesitation.
Jaws dropped all around.
"What! How?" Aladdin demanded, jumping to his feet.
"Because, shadow man probably wizard."
"Yes, that makes sense," Jasmine said, letting the question of "so?" hang.
Xerxes flicked his tail, musing. "Likely hero-brother not used for sacrifice."
Aladdin gulped. "Sacrifice?"
Xerxes nodded, his face apologetic. "Not know for sure," he confessed, "but shadow-man make big show of take brother. Wizards not usual make show for sacrifices. But…apprentices."
"You think some evil magician kidnapped my brother for an apprentice?" Aladdin said, turning even paler. Jasmine got up and took his arm to steady him. He seized her hand, his shaking.
"So, Farid…might be alive," he said numbly, after a while.
Xerxes nodded. "Maybe."
Aladdin's gaze was far off. "Then…but why did my father not return then? If Farid was alive, then Father should have brought him back."
Xerxes's chin drooped. "Not if shadow killed," his tone was saturated with apology.
Aladdin squeezed his eyes shut; willing that declaration away. "What if Farid didn't cooperate?"
Xerxes swished his tail again and looked at it, clearly not wanting to answer.
"Okay," Iago loudly said, "I've got to say something now."
Jasmine leveled him a sour look.
"No!" Iago protested, "hero-boy is gonna drive himself crazy with all of these 'what-ifs.' Ya know what? What ifs don't help; can't help. And if you think about it too long, you'll go nuts. Until we deal with the new and improved, more-crazy wizard of the Black Sand, we really can't focus on anything else right now."
That seemed to snap everyone out of it. Aladdin took a breath and straightened, rubbing his neck again. "Iago's right," he flatly said.
"Well, of course I'm-"
"And we do need to stay on task here," he added, obviously not wanting to let go of the subject of his brother's possible survival, "how long do you think Sadira will be gone?" he asked Jasmine.
"I don't know; she didn't say."
"Hero," Xerxes chanced.
Aladdin looked at him.
"Master may be able to help. Once world is safe."
Aladdin's brown eyes narrowed. "How?"
"Master knows of many wizards; has fire mirrors to see far off places-"
"I've seen those." He grimaced at the memory.
"Plus master has Gilt Mirror. Very powerful. Can see everywhere. Distance not matter."
"So, he might be able to find Farid for me?"
Xerxes nodded. "You save master; help master. Master…might wish repay."
"Yeah," Iago snarked, "there it is: might."
Genie straightened. "Well, Al, if Wiz-kid doesn't want to show gratitude, don't you worry. You have a semi-phenomenal, nearly cosmic genie in your corner. If Farid is out there, we'll find him."
Al let out a sigh of relief. Hugged his friend. "Thanks Genie."
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The lime band across the sky had expanded, melting into the sapphire cloak of night and dismissing the glittering, silvery stars. At the Elixir Stronghold site, a mound of sand raised itself from the dunes just before the entrance into the tall ravine. The sand morphed into Sadira, with her sand worm, Jib, perched on her shoulder. She tightened her grip on the golden scepter she held; adjusted her green cloak.
The Scepter of Rule and the Emerald Mantle; the insignias of Queens.
Hopefully, the guardians would be impressed enough to give her the Elixir. Sadira was certain she could win in battle for it; but, the idea of a sand witch fighting sand witch guardians for a sand witch relic just felt so wrong.
A house divided cannot stand. And with Desdane returned, the House of the Witches of the Sand had to stand.
There was simply no other way.
She headed for the ravine's yawning opening.
It was easy enough to navigate the route to the remnants of the center chamber; she had studied the stronghold's layout months ago in detail; in fact, there had been scrolls about this place in droves. They told all one needed to know about it.
Except for the location; a slightly important detail.
But, soon enough, she stood before a tall pillar of grey stone; it reared up before her easily 70 feet high. Atop it she caught a glint of golden light.
The Chalice, and within, the legendary Elixir of Life.
She sighed in relief.
But, even as she took her first steps, the ground began to shake.
Sadira sighed; again!? But then she recalled; the guardians.
The arose from the shifting sands, the ground rumbling like thunder beneath her feet. They were around 30 feet long; dark eggplant purple with large green eyes and black crests on their bulbous heads.
The Sand Slugs. Not an intimidating title, Sadira mused, but their leviathan size seemed to make up for that.
One of them roared at her. She was about to display her spear/scepter threateningly, till Jib cut in—
"He's asking who you are."
"Oh," Sadira flushed in embarrassment; she should have realized that.
It's a good thing she really wasn't a queen, she thought. She forced herself to stand up straight and then, regally lifted up the Sceptor. The giant slugs all made loud grumbles of surprise—and recognition.
"Tell them," Sadira evenly instructed, "that I am Sadira, witch of the sand and inheritor of all that was once the Sand Witch Empire. As the Inheritor, I request of them that they give to me the Elixir for two days. Afterwards, I shall follow the Standard of our Order and return it."
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A/N: Well, how was that? Like? Not? Plz let me know. Do you think the Guardians will let them have the Elixir? Or will Sadira have to fight for it? Throw in your guess! Till next time! Plz leave a review!