Some helpful servants had brought Rapunzel a change of clothes and the three women were currently taking a tour of the gardens before dinner.
Rapunzel was loving the feel of the sunshine on her skin and the smell of the flowers around her – she had enjoyed her time out at sea, but since escaping from her tower that had been all she had known. It was nice to experience somewhere new – new sounds and smells and sounds. That was the whole point of leaving her tower in the first place after all! She gasped in delight as a peacock strode across their path, her fingers itching to pick up a paintbrush to capture the beautiful hues of its tail.
Merida's sharp eyes meanwhile were taking in their surroundings, cataloguing away any security measures she spotted and potential escape routes. The role of passive servant was supposed to leave her with a lot of opportunity to scout out the place, but they hadn't counted on Jasmine being so friendly. The slightly older woman made an effort to treat Merida as an equal, including her in their conversations and making her laugh. Merida couldn't help but be drawn to her, finding a kinship in Jasmine's fiery spirit.
"Oooo I would have hit tha' Jafar on the nose!" Merida exclaimed as Jasmine finished telling them of a previous vizier who had tried to force her into marriage and take over the kingdom – it was safe to say the Princess hadn't been best pleased.
Jasmine laughed, amused at Merida's outspoken ways. "Trust me, I tried! And if it hadn't been for him controlling Genie, then I imagine I would have succeeded too." Her eyes glinted, a grim smile on her face. "Still, I suppose being locked away for eternity is a good enough punishment."
Rapunzel and Merida exchanged glances. The moment Jasmine had started talking about genies they had both paid close attention, and now seemed as good a time as any to start moving the conversation towards the subject of the ring.
"I've never even heard of a genie being in my kingdom or on our side of the ocean – they must be pretty rare." Rapunzel began carefully.
"Oh yes – I'd heard of them but Genie was the first one I ever met. The things he could do were pretty amazing, but I'm glad he was on our side in the end!" She sat down on the edge of a fountain and dangled her fingertips in the cool water.
"It's wonderful he has his freedom now. Apart from the fact I don't think anyone should have control over someone else, it's not safe for a human to have access to that much power. We experienced for ourselves what can happen if a genie falls into the wrong hands." A dark shadow fell across her face. "It's why we have been seeking out any genies we can in order to free them, or locking away those that are too dangerous."
"Too dangerous?" Rapunzel asked
Jasmine nodded. "Evil genies like Jafar, or ones who just can't be freed – though luckily we've only come across one of those so far. It's difficult to find them you see, because they can be disguised as almost anything. Genie was in a lamp, there was another in a bottle and the one we had to lock away was in a ring!"
"Oh?"Rapunzel's heart began to beat faster in excitement.
"How on earth did you find something so small?"Merida prompted.
"Genie led us to it. The last time he visited was about...oh it must be 5 years ago now." Jasmine mused. "We miss him dearly of course, but we understand he has millennia to catch up on and an entire world to explore. Anyway, the last time he was here he told us we could find this ring in an underwater cave out on some remote island offshore. Apparently the genie in it was deemed too wicked to ever be released, so not even the magic of a wish can free him." She looked into the distance, as if seeing something that wasn't there. "You'd never know what was in it just by looking at it. It's a sparkling red ruby set in a plain silver band – beautiful enough on the outside but knowing what it holds..."
"Couldn't yer just wish fer it to be destroyed or something?" Merida asked.
"Genie told us that wouldn't work. The being inside it was basically cursed to spend eternity in there – he can neither be freed nor killed, so magic protects the ring from any harm. Besides, I wouldn't try wishing on it even if I wanted to. Wishes can go astray even with the best intentions – let alone with an evil will behind it." Jasmine explained.
"Goodness!" Rapunzel replied. "It sounds pretty scary. Are you sure no one can get to it?"
"Oh no, it's locked up safe amongst the treasure in our vault and you need two keys to get to it anyway. The Captain of the Guards has the one for the main vault and Aladdin has been entrusted with the one for the inner chamber. I think Father wanted to prove to Aladdin that he trusted him. You know – after the whole 'thief' thing, despite it being years ago now." She rolled her eyes with a smile.
Rapunzel and Merida smiled and nodded as the conversation gradually moved on to different subjects, but they were both thinking the same thing: They now knew where the ring was being kept – but how were they going to get hold of the keys?
Hiccup and Jack were in heaven and couldn't stop beaming at each other. The moment they had taken off into the air on the magic carpet they had each let out a whoop of excitement and Aladdin laughed at their obvious enthusiasm.
They were soaring high above the city, the clouds whipping past them as they meandered across the sky. Jack closed his eyes in bliss, simply enjoying the feel of the wind against his face. He had always been happier up high, and something about this just felt right. "What I wouldn't give to be able to fly...I've got to get me one of these!" he thought.
"This is amazing!" Hiccup gasped, stretching his hands out to feel the wind rush past them.
It reminded him of the time he had worn his flight suit down the side of the mountain and his heart ached, wishing Toothless could be flying beside him. Toothless' growth had been severely stunted from years of malnutrition and being shut in a small cage by the slavers, but Hiccup maintained his dream that one day Toothless would be big enough to fly on – then nothing would stop them from exploring the sky together.
He held on tight as Aladdin guided the carpet into a loop, before swooping down into the streets of the city, skimming just above people's heads and weaving between buildings. Spotting a bridge coming up, an idea popped into Hiccup's head along with a rush of adrenaline. He looked over and exchanged a look with Jack.
Jack had the same reckless glint in his eye and nodded, reading Hiccup's mind. They stood up simultaneously, balancing on the moving carpet.
"Hey what are you two – woah watch out!" Aladdin cried out, turning to see them both stand up just as they were about to fly under a small archway that stretched across the street.
Timing it perfectly, the two of them leaped over the bridge, skidding across the sandstone and falling back down on the carpet as it came out the other side. It was a little messy and Jack had to grab Hiccup's arm to steady him as they landed, but both were laughing with adrenaline filled joy and their eyes were alight with adventure.
Sighing now he knew they were ok, Aladdin shook his head and grinned. "How was it you lost your leg again, your Highness?"
Hiccup merely grinned back, and Jack laughed.
"If Jasmine were here she would probably remind me that I'm supposed to be in charge of our guests getting back in one piece...still, that looked pretty fun." A mischievous glint appeared in Aladdin's eye. "I also feel it is my responsibility as your host to give you a proper tour of the kingdom, which may or may not include a few places with some great obstacles to...manoeuvre around. Would you two be interested?"
The smile on their faces was all the answer he needed.
Later that night the four of them were relaxing in the private lounging room Aladdin and Jasmine had allocated for them. The few men they had brought with them from the ship had been given temporary beds in the servant's quarters and strict instructions from Merida to listen out for any important information about the palace that might come in useful later.
Jack and Hiccup were raving about the magic carpet flight, causing Rapunzel and Merida to smile at their obvious enthusiasm.
"It was amazing Punz! We were like seagulls!"
"I'd say more like Dragons." Hiccup interrupted.
"Fine Dragons. Either way we were flying! You should have seen it; the clouds were like fluffy snowballs!"
"We got absolutely soaked flying through one, but the sun soon dried us off. And the views Mer! They were amazing!"
"You could see everything for miles!"
"Those deserts go on forever, I'm glad we never considered walking through them..."
"The people looked like ants in the city below – Hiccup was a spoil sport and wouldn't let me spit over the side though..."
"We were with the Prince Jack! Not to mention that's disgusting."
"Aladdin was pretty cool though." Jack admitted. "We did loop the loops and everything!"
"Yeah, he's a decent guy...I kind of feel bad we're planning on robbing him." Hiccup said. "Not enough to not do it of course, but still..."
"Speaking of which" Merida interjected "I don't suppose in all that time you spent with him you managed to ask about the ring did you? Or perhaps you were too busy playing "dragons" to remember why we are here in the first place?" She raised an eyebrow at them.
Hiccup and Jack both opened their mouths to respond before realising they had no comeback or excuse. They looked at each other guiltily.
"Err...well I was going to..."
"But you see there was this thing..."
"In all fairness, Hiccup is the "Prince" and I'm just a servant – I shouldn't be talking to Aladdin directly anyway..."
"Don't bother trying that one Jack, you two were getting on like a house on fire!" Hiccup protested.
"Well, what about you?! You were going on about the flying suit of yours for ages and how you wish you'd brought it with you – I'm sure you could have brought up the ring at some point!"
"How exactly would that have figured into the conversation? 'Oh yes your highness, I made the suit myself! What's that you say? Does it have any adornment on it? Well now you mention it, I've always thought it could do with some jewellery to jazz it up a bit. Speaking of jewellery, have you ever heard of a magic ring that grants wishes?'" Hiccup responded sarcastically, miming out the conversation with exaggerated arm movements.
"Well lucky for you two it did come up in our conversation." Rapunzel interrupted their argument. "We know where the ring is being kept – but there are two keys we need to get hold of first."
The two men stopped their bickering to look at Rapunzel in surprise.
"Only two keys? Sounds easy enough."Jack looked hopeful.
"Where are they?" Hiccup added, settling into his "planning" mode.
"The Captain of the Guards has one – and Aladdin has the other." Merida said.
"The ring is kept in the inner vault – so we need to get into the main one first somehow without being seen, before we even get to that point." Rapunzel explained.
"Not to mention we need some sort of escape plan for afterwards – I don't really want to be here when they discover it's missing." Merida added.
Hiccup frowned. "That's a good point. We need to figure out how we're getting out of here before we even attempt going after the ring. I don't know about you, but I don't really want to risk going back through The Realm of Shadows again."
The look on everyone's faces were enough to show him they agreed.
A quiet knock suddenly interrupted their discussion.
Merida opened her mouth to call out that they could come in before remembering she wasn't supposed to be in charge. She gestured to Hiccup that he should answer.
"Oh er...Come in!"
The door crept open to reveal Jasmine at the door. A brown, hooded cloak currently concealed most of her, and she carried a plain bag slung across her body. She smiled at them all as she entered.
"Oh you're still up – good. I apologise for the late intrusion but Aladdin and I have been speaking about your ...predicament, and we think we have a way home for you."
They looked at each other in astonishment.
"You do?!" Rapunzel asked in surprise.
Jasmine nodded. "Follow me – we must be secretive about this though. No one else is supposed to know."
Her mysterious words only served to peak their curiosity and one by one they followed her from the room.
Jasmine led them through the dimly lit halls of the palace and down into the gardens. It was a beautiful night – clear and still with a thousand stars twinkling above them.
She took them to the furthest part of the garden where they discovered Aladdin waiting for them in the shadows of the garden foliage. The magical purple carpet was floating upright next to him, and appeared to wave one of its tassels at them.
He smiled at their arrival. "Sorry for the secrecy but we made a promise not to tell anyone – technically we shouldn't even be telling you, but I'm sure she won't mind in this case."
"She?" Hiccup asked, quirking an eyebrow.
"You'll see." Aladdin said mysteriously. "Now, we can't all fit on Carpet at once so it's going to have to make two trips. How about the ladies go first and we'll follow afterwards?"
"How does it work?" Merida said, peering at the carpet curiously. She had always been fascinated by things of a magical nature.
"I'm not entirely sure." Aladdin replied, scratching his head. "I found it in the Cave of Wonders and it's been a loyal friend ever since. It might be run by magic or it might be someone transformed into a rug...there's no way to be sure, but it certainly has a mind of its own!"
"We're going to ride on someone's back?!" Merida said in alarm.
"We've got to get down to the ocean and flying carpet is the quickest way to get there. " Jasmine said gently. "Don't worry; Carpet doesn't mind and it's perfectly safe."
As if responding to her words, the carpet seemed to gesture Merida to come towards it via waving its tasselled corners at her and laid down flat on the floor.
"I'm not scared!" Merida scoffed. "I just don't want to be sitting on its head or something!" She strode onto the carpet and sat down on it firmly in the middle before looking up at them defiantly.
Rapunzel held back a giggle before following Merida's lead, though much more daintily it had to be said. She pulled as much of her hair into her lap as she could, though she was resigned to the fact most of it would probably be left flying behind her.
Kissing Aladdin on the cheek, Jasmine moved to the front of the carpet and settled herself comfortably on it.
"Ok carpet – to the ocean!"
Rapunzel and Merida let out a squeal as it began to move under them, Merida making a sudden grab for the edges. She caught Hiccup's amused smirk and shot him a glare. "Not a word!" she threatened.
He grinned back as they took off into the air, Rapunzel beaming with infectious excitement as they vanished into the night.
"I think Jasmine is enjoying having some female company around." Aladdin smiled. "She tends to find other noble ladies far too 'stuffy' for her liking – Rapunzel and Merida are like a breath of fresh air."
"They are, aren't they?" Hiccup grinned.
"You seem to get on well with her hand maiden; have you known each other long?" he asked politely.
"Her hand maid- oh Merida! Oh we do?" Hiccup replied, flustered.
"Yes" Aladdin nodded. "I suppose since you and Rapunzel are betrothed you will all spend a lot of time together but it's nice to see you are all friends."
"Ha ha...yeah. Friends." He laughed nervously, swinging his arms awkwardly by his side as images of him and Merida being "friendly" sprang to mind. "Yep. That's us. Friendly friends. Best of buds. Frienderiffic - Ow!" He shot a glare at Jack, who had chucked a small stone at his head with remarkable accuracy. Jack looked into the air innocently and whistled.
Aladdin chuckled and moved slightly away to greet Raja who had probably come to see where Jasmine had gone.
Hiccup took the chance to sidle over to Jack under the pretence of looking closer at a flower bush he was standing next to. He leant over to smell one and muttered in an undertone. "What was that for?!"
"You were rambling on too much. Not to mention you and Merida keep shooting flirty looks at each other – you're going to give it away!"Jack murmured back, trying not to move his lips too much.
"We're giving it away?! What about you?"
"Me?"
"Yes; don't think I don't see that love sick expression you get every time Rapunzel's in the room."
Jack opened his mouth to protest but Hiccup cut him off.
"You light up whenever you're near her. If you're not careful Aladdin and Jasmine are going to think you're hitting on my 'fiance' and I'm going to be forced to throw you in jail or something."
"Pff I'd like to see you try. And I do not 'light up' whenever I see her!" Jack huffed.
"Suuuuure. And I'm a female Gronkle."
Luckily Jack was saved from responding by Carpet's return. They boarded the flying transport and it swiftly ferried them to where it had dropped off the women in a concealed cove a few miles away from the docks. The cove was inaccessible apart from flying carpet or via the sea and the tide was currently in, so there was only a small amount of sand actually left for them to land on.
Jasmine, Rapunzel and Merida waved their greeting as the men came to land.
"Jack, it was wonderful!" Rapunzel rushed up to him beaming. "You were right, I felt like one of the birds who used to fly past my tower. Oh, what I wouldn't give to have wings!"
Jack felt a smile grow unconsciously on his face before registering Hiccup giving him a sideways smirk. He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly and looked away.
"How about you?" Hiccup asked Merida. "You made it in one piece I see." He grinned.
She rolled her eyes, but couldn't prevent the smile on her face. "Ok I'll admit it - it was actually pretty amazing. I kind of wish I had a magic carpet of my own now – think of the places we could go on one!"
"If we ever hear of another one, we'll let you know." Aladdin grinned. "Now, I guess we'd better get on with the whole reason why we're here."
The others gathered round curiously as Jasmine pulled a large conch shell out of her bag. Carefully she made her way over a formation of rocks that allowed her to get a little further out to sea without getting wet. She knelt down and placed one end of the shell into the water before blowing on the other end as hard as she could. A faint musical sound could be heard from underneath the water. She did this a few more times before standing up and returning to the group.
"What now?" Hiccup asked.
"Now we wait."
Author Notes -
Next chapter is pretty much completed but I want to hold on to it for a little longer just to make sure I'm happy with it. Sorry chapters are taking a little longer to come out at the moment, life is manic! Hope you enjoyed it though :)