Torn

"What?" (A great way to open a chapter -_- ~GingerBizkits) "What just- how can that happen? AL! BUDDY!" Genie yelled, hammering his fist on the crystal.

"He had magic in his soul- not much, but it was enough..." Mozenrath stared at the clouded crystal. "Destane!" He roared.

The Crystal of Ix's surface slowly cleared, revealing Aladdin, kneeling down, rubbing the palms of his hands against his forehead.

"Aladdin!" Mozenrath yelled. Aladdin lowered his hands, looked up slowly, and glanced over his shoulder. Destane stood up slowly, staring at Mozenrath.

"Tragic, isn't it?" He said, calmly. Mozenrath glared back, a muscle twitched in his cheek.

Aladdin stared at his brother, then up at Destane, who smiled down at him through narrowed eyes. "He can't let us out." Destane whispered.

"What? Why?" Aladdin asked, staring at Mozenrath.

"I could, but he'd..." Mozenrath began, but tailed off.

"I'll tell you why." Destane pointed a finger at Aladdin, whose head was then immediately thrown backwards to look at the sorcerer, much to Mozenrath's fury (Seriously- throwing your head back really fast hurts like hell- and if you just tried it, you're awesome :D~ GingerBizkits.) "If he lets you out, I'll get out too. And when I do, I'll warp myself out of here, and get to work, taking over the Seven Deserts, by transforming everyone into Mamluks with one sweep of my hand."

Aladdin's eyes widened. "Pity..." Destane continued. "About the Princess." Aladdin turned his head to look at the floor. "Such a pity. But, being a princess, she'll understand. Her sadness and your freedom lost, would be nothing compared to the destruction of the Seven Deserts."

Aladdin focused hard on the green crystal before him.

"Of course, we are now eternal." Destane continued, and despite himself, Aladdin turned to look at him. "We'll be stuck like this forever- never hungry, unless you are now, never getting tired... or old. Can you imagine? We'd be in here, watching as your princess grows older and older, until she eventually..."

Aladdin stood up abruptly, causing Destane to stop talking, and slammed his fist against the edges of the Crystal.

"Fool! That won't work." Destane snarled, reaching forward. Aladdin swung his hand behind him to swat Destane away, when it was seized by magic. Aladdin was swung around by his arm.

With a sly grin at Mozenrath, Destane punched the defenceless Aladdin over the mouth, then Destane swung him around, holding the boy's limp form against his own, holding him up by his hair with one hand, and placing a magically-conjured knife against his throat with the other hand. Ropes appeared, binding Aladdin's arms to his sides, and blood that had formed after that punch was slipping out through Aladdin's lips.

"Oh, look at him, Mozenrath- he faces an eternity of torture." Destane said, in a mock baby voice. "Just let us out, and I'll make your deaths all quick- you won't feel a thing."

Aladdin shook his head slowly at the others. Destane hissed into his ear. "You don't mean that."

Aladdin blinked. "Mozenrath- maybe you'd better send the Crystal away, somewhere no one would ever find it."

"No." Mozenrath said.

"He's just trying to use me to get to you. You don't have to watch- just go to Agrabah, tell Jasmine... something happened, and then get rid of the crystal."

"Funny how it works, isn't it?" Destane said. "Yesterday, this would have been a dream come true, your greatest enemies, locked away forever... yet today-"

"I still want my greatest enemy locked away forever!" Mozenrath said angrily.

"Oh touching. The rat is no longer your enemy?" Destane said. He slowly held the knife away from Aladdin's throat, then pointed it back at Aladdin.

"No!" Mozenrath yelled, as the knife sunk into his brother's stomach. "Aladdin!" Destane let Aladdin fall limply to the floor, holding up the bloody knife.

Mozenrath knelt down beside the Crystal at Aladdin's height. "M-mozen-" Aladdin gasped. He was lying on his stomach, fingers scratching the hard slippery floors of the crystal, looking for something to clutch, to try and relieve the pain slightly.

"Yeah... that's my name." Mozenrath said quietly.

"It's f-fine now." Aladdin gasped. "I-i'll die... hate him... h-hate... him for... killing me... now ba-banish the c-cryst-tal." Aladdin's eyelids faltered.

"No- no Aladdin look at me..." Mozenrath tried to say, but Aladdin didn't seem to hear, as his blood pooled around him.

"Torn..." Aladdin muttered, as he blacked out. "Between letting the one you loved die, or letting your greatest enemy die..." No one was sure whether he was talking to himself or Mozenrath. Maybe both.