Alia groaned, nearly yanking at her hair with her hands. She was sitting on her bed, trying to work on her Chemistry homework. "Trying" being the operative word. They arrived back at the palace over an hour ago, eating what some might call a feast that Jasmine had the cooks prepare. Then, everyone went their separate ways to relax or hang out or do whatever they decided to do. Considering the holiday weekend was almost over, Alia decided she should probably work on the homework due Monday that she neglected to start on.

She wasn't completely sure what everyone else was doing, but she could hear loud, boisterous cheering from the room next door to hers, so she figured Jay, Carlos, and maybe Shang were playing some videogame in Jay's room. Mal had actually left earlier that morning to briefly return to Ben's castle, and the two were due to return Sunday morning with a handful of the King's guards and Fairy Godmother to help protect the staff. She wasn't sure what Evie, Lonnie, and Jordan were doing, whether they were hanging out together or sleeping or something.

Alia sighed for what felt like the thousandth time. Even though she was feeling a little better, probably due to a couple days away from whatever was exposing her to the potion, she was still struggling with Chemistry. She figured it was a combination of her not liking or understanding the subject, and the crappy teacher. If she had a better teacher she probably wouldn't be bordering on failing the class.

Movement out of the corner of her eye caused Alia's already-distracted attention to leave her text book once again. Raisa was resting on a fuzzy carpet across the room. Alia had been convinced she was asleep, but now her head was raised and she was staring at the slightly open door.

Alia watched her for a moment. She opened her mouth to say something, but then Raisa stood up and trotted across the room to the door. She nudged the door open with her nose and stuck her head out. She stood absolutely still for a moment, and then she seemed to tense and crouch slightly, creeping into the hallway.

"Raisa?" Alia called quietly. The tiger didn't respond, so Alia climbed off her bed and quietly approached the doorway. She peaked out and down the hallway to see Raisa stalking silently yet swiftly down the hall, as if hunting prey.

Alia glanced back and forth down the hall, not seeing or hearing anyone else. Curious, she slipped out of her room, her bare feet silent against the cool stone floor as she followed her tiger down the hallway.

She soon had to pick up her pace, as Raisa moved swiftly through the palace. She nearly lost sight of her a couple times, but for the most part was able to easily keep up with the large animal. However, she had no clue what Raisa was actually following. She caught a couple glimpses of movement far ahead, like a brief flash of red, but that was about it.

They traveled for several minutes, rounding corners and going down staircases. There didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to their path, they seemed to be just wandering aimlessly through the palace.

Starting to get annoyed by this wild goose chase, Alia put on a short burst of speed as Raisa rounded a corner up ahead. Alia reached the corner just behind her and finally caught a decent look at the tiger's prey.

It was a parrot.

Beyond confused, Alia slowed her pace, walking more leisurely as she watched Raisa pick up her pace, actually running after the bird. A parrot? How did a parrot get into the palace? Where did it come from?

A noise pulled Alia from her thoughts and she finally realized where she was. To her right was a doorway, the door opened a crack. This was the room where they'd decided to hide the staff. It was one of the most well guarded places in the palace, near the center of the building, a floor beneath the ground floor with no access from windows or secret entrances. But she heard a noise from just inside the door, a noise she couldn't quite place.

Glancing down the hall to where her tiger had disappeared, Alia took a deep breath before hesitantly pushing the door open.

She immediately knew something was off. There was supposed to be a pair of guards just inside the door, but there was no one there. She debated going to get help, but she heard another sound and hesitantly moved further into the room.

She rounded a decorative wall that hid one side of the room, and stopped short when her foot bumped something. It was dark, but she could just make out what looked like two bodies.

Squatting quickly, she reached around until she was able to find one guard's head and found his pulse point under his jaw. Thankfully, there was a heartbeat. She leaned over and did the same with the other guard, who was also still alive.

Alia swallowed thickly, wondering what to do. She knew others would want her to go get help. But if someone was trying to steal the staff, shouldn't she do something?

Before she could make the decision, the lights flashed on, making her blink to get her vision to come back into focus. What she saw made her freeze. She slowly stood up straight, her eyes fixed straight ahead.

Across the room was where they'd put the staff, leaning it against the far wall. It was still there, but it was mostly covered from her view by a person. As Alia watched, the man picked up the staff, slowly turning around as he held up the staff, admiring it in his hands.

"You?!" Alia exclaimed in shocked disbelief.

The man smirked at her, his dark pencil mustache emphasizing the expression.

It was her science teacher Mr. Price.

"Hello, Princess Alia." he greeted her smoothly. "I was so hoping to run into you tonight."

"You-how-what are you doing here?" Alia stuttered, her brain still trying to catch up and wrap around the fact that her Chemistry teacher was in her home, seemingly trying to steal the staff.

"Ah, yes. I'm sure you're very confused." Mr. Price agreed mockingly. "Perhaps I can shed a little light on the subject."

And then, before Alia's very eyes, Mr. Price seemed to peel off a kind of second skin, and remove what was apparently a wig, revealing tan skin, thinning black hair, and dark, sinister eyes. Eyes that Alia knew instantly. Eyes that haunted every scary story of her childhood, and even haunted her dreams.

Jafar.

Alia instantly took a step back, planning to go for help. But Jafar merely raised his staff, causing the door to the room to slam shut behind her, closing off her escape.

"Now, now. You don't want to leave before the party gets started, do you?" Jafar asked mockingly.

Alia forced herself to take deep breaths, trying to remain calm and think rationally.

"So, this was your plan?" she asked, partially to buy some time. "Disguise yourself as my teacher, then steal the staff and, what, use me to get revenge on my parents? Because honestly, it's a little unoriginal. I mean, sure, my teacher, that kinda threw me, but can't you think of anything better than using Aladdin's daughter to get revenge?" she asked sarcastically.

Jafar chuckled slightly. "You have no idea the lengths I've gone to get this far, how long I've planned this out. You have no clue what I plan to do to you and your family. And thanks to Maleficent's moronic spawn, I'm free to do as I please, seeking revenge on everyone who wronged me, starting with your pathetic family."

"And you really think breaking into the palace to steal the staff is going to work out for you? I mean, you really think you're going to get out of here with that?" Alia asked, trying to sound casual and dubious of Jafar's abilities, when in reality she was hoping someone would show up and help her.

Jafar laughed again, as if he found her adorably stupid. "You and I both know no one in the area has the power to stop me while I have this." he told her, clutching his staff in both hands. "The only person who might have the power to beat me is that idiotic genie, but with this I can rise to the top." he grinned maniacally down at the staff. "But of course," he continued, regaining his composure, "It shouldn't come to that. If all goes according to plan, I'll be gone before anyone knows what's happening. I just need to secure my newest chess piece."

Alia's brow furrowed, confused and more wary than before.

"You know what this scepter can do?" he asked rhetorically. "I can use it to hypnotize people."

Alia took another step back, her hand going to the door knob behind her, but of course it wouldn't budge.

"Unfortunately, it only really works on the weak minded. I used it dozens of times on that simpering idiot, your grandfather. But I could never manage it with your mother. I figured, especially after our encounter on the Isle of the Lost, that you would be a similar issue. But I had a simple, though extensive, solution for that. The Minuere Potion."

Alia froze again. So, they'd been right. Jafar had somehow exposed her to the Minuere Potion.

"Being your teacher got me plenty of access. Once I found out which dorm room was yours, getting the potion into your water was easy. Every time you got a drink, showered, washed your hands in your dorm room, you were exposing yourself to the potion. The potion makes you physically and emotionally weaker. It breaks your will and weakens your mind, making it easier for me to use my scepter on you."

That was what they'd guessed, but to hear it confirmed was something else. But Alia forced herself to push her emotions to the side. She needed to keep him talking and hope that someone would show up and stop him.

"And what exactly do you plan to have me do?" she asked.

"Well, nothing too drastic at first." Jafar admitted, looking thoughtfully down at his staff. "But the basic goal is that I will rule Agrabah through you."

Alia forced down her horror. Honestly, she should have suspected that. "Aren't you forgetting someone? Jay and I will be ruling Agrabah together. Even if you hypnotize me, Jay will never let you take over. He'll know something's up and he'll stop you."

Jafar nodded thoughtfully. "True. That's why I chose to target you and not him. He'd recognize my tactics instantly. Which is why I'll have to get him out of the way." he added ominously, looking up at her again with sinister, dark eyes. "Or should I say, you'll have to get him out of the way."

He held the staff out, and the ruby eyes of the cobra glowed an eerie red, a dark sort of magic reaching out into Alia's mind.

OoOoO

Anybody see that coming?! Did I shock everyone? I hope so. I figured Jafar was so obviously the villain that I needed to add some kind of shocking twist. And a cliffhanger rolled in, too.

Feel free to review and let me know what you all thought!