Chapter XXVII; Changing Ways
The next stop was a world X actually remembered having visited before. In fact, he had been there often. Too often. Honestly, he thought if he saw this desert ever again it would be too soon. He wasn't entirely sure why he had decided that, but he knew it was true.
In the city, they found their way into a shop. The entire thing was coated in gold. The walls, the ceiling, the counter, everything inside of the shop. X had to flinch away from the bright sheen. He glanced over, just in time to see Donald walk into a vase. He lunged forward and caught it before it hit the ground, saving it from breaking. He didn't know how much it was worth, but he was pretty sure they didn't have the munny to replace it.
"You break it, you buy it!" A voice said suddenly. X looked up to see a short peddler, glaring at them. His face suddenly brightened seeing them. "Oh! Hello there, friends."
"Wow! You made out like a bandit!" Sora said looking around.
"Please, I am but an honest merchant. What you see is merely the reward for my hard work," the peddler said, trying to act humble. X could see his greed easily though. It was hard for him to hide that sort of feeling.
"Gawrsh, they sure are nice," Goofy said.
"And they're on sale! Interested?" the peddler offered quickly. X snorted looking away.
"No thanks. Listen, have you seen a guy in a black coat? Someone from Organization XIII?" Sora asked. the peddler tensed up quickly, trying to put on a face of confusion. X glared at him. Did he actually know anything, or just actin?
"Who me? Most certainly not," the peddler said.
"Ok. We'll keep asking around, then," Sora said turning away from the peddler.
"Sora! Don't let him get away!" a new voice yelled suddenly. By the time X had processed what they had said and turned to the peddler, he was gone. X frowned turning back toward the man who had called back to them.
"What's going on?" Sora asked.
"Can't believe it," the man said. "That stupid peddler let Jafar out of the lamp!"
"Jafar!?" Sora, Donald, and Goofy echoed. X frowned tipping his head to the side.
"Uh, who?"
"He was an ally of Maleficent. The old royal visor," Sora explained turning to X. He nodded looking down. Maleficent had been an annoyance before, and she had given knowledge no should have to even more troublesome types across the worlds.
"You guys better be careful," the man said.
"Huh?" Donald asked.
"I'm sure Jafar wants to take over Agrabah again, but I know he's out for revenge, too," the man said simply. X decided when he got the chance he'd have to ask Jiminey for his name. He seemed pretty important, and he didn't have the slightest clue who he was.
"I guess he's still sore about that whole lamp thing, huh," Sora said with a nervous chuckle.
"Iago was there when Jafar was released," the man said motioning to a red bird flying around them. He looked at him with narrowed yes. "Ok, Iago. Spill it."
"Hey! I told you everything I know!" the bird said. It took X a moment to recognize that a bird was talking. However, he guessed he had seen much weirder things in other worlds. A talking bird wasn't so bad.
"This is your one and only chance, Iago. If I find out later that you've been lying or hiding things from us, we're through. I'll never speak to you again!" the man said firmly. the bird fluttered nervously in the air. Unease rolled off of him, like he was caught in some kind of turmoil.
"I can't take it! I know where Jafar is!" Iago said.
"Where?" Goofy asked.
"Uh, er, I mean, that is, I, um," Iago said. His unease only grew. "Ack! I really shouldn't-"
"Iago!" the man snapped. The bird sighed.
"He's in the desert ruins," Iago said.
"Let's get the jump on him. Lead the way!" Sora said cheerfully. X frowned looking at Iago. He turned to Sora.
"Are you guys sure?" he asked. "I think somethings off."
"Like what?" Sora asked curiously. X frowned looking back at Iago, who looked almost hopeful.
"I dunno, can we just be careful? His heart, it feels strange," X said. Sora nodded before following the mans lead through the city.
While on the way to the desert X found out the man was called Aladdin, a friend Sora and the others had made on their first visit. He had been a street rat, for lack of a better term, until meeting a genie and saving Agrabah from Jafar.
Reaching the edge of the desert they saw a sandstorm out in the distance. X wasn't sure, but he guessed it was right over where they needed to go. No a good sign.
"What a disaster! We're just gonna hafta turn back," Iago said, quickly turning to fly back to the city. X again frowned at his strange actions. What was going on with him?
"There's gotta be a way," Aladdin said, tapping his chin.
"Aw, c'mon, kid, that's an easy one!"
X jumped hearing the new voice. He turned in time to see a blue man appeared, who he could only assume was the Genie Jiminey had told him about.
"Al, ol' buddy, ol' pal. This is what having a genie for a best friend is all about! I mean, how can you leave me on the sidelines in a time like this!? Live large! Wow 'em, Al! Give 'em the old razzmatazz! What do ya say, kid?" the Genie said. It was hard to keep up with the Genie as he jumped around, becoming as large as the city itself before shrinking down to the size of the city.
"Hey, Genie!" Sora greeted.
"Sora!" Genie said teleporting to Sora's side. "Wanna see a little something I call "Sandstorm Sweep"?"
"Uh-huh!" Sora said excitedly.
"Take it away, Genie!" Aladdin said.
"Alakaza-uh," Genie trailed off looking at the sandstorm blankly. "You know? One lousy sandstorm is just too easy." He pointed his finger at the sandstorm and it vanished in an instant. X stared in shock. He had that much magic? "How about giving me a challenge next time, eh Al?"
Aladdin didn't reply. Genie left them to their business, and the group wandered into the ruins. There was no way they could investigate the entire ruins. Not on foot. Too much of it was too high for them to jump up to. X might be able to use Heartless, but he wanted to avoid that. This Jafar could likely control them too, and that might be a problem.
"Now what do we do?" Aladdin asked. As he looked around a carpet flew down out of nowhere, landing in front of them and pointing to itself with one corner tassel. X stared in shock watching the carpet. Talking birds, and now magic carpets. This world was beyond strange.
"Nice timing, Carpet!" Sora said.
Somehow the carpet fit all of them on it. X suspected it was part of its magic to grow to be able to fit its passengers. Even so, X was surprised. He looked down at the sandy ground as Sora directed the carpet chasing after a shadow of this Jafar person. Eventually they landed in a ruined chamber where Jafars shadow had disappeared.
"The game's up, Jafar!" Sora yelled.
"You sure this is it?" Aladdin asked.
"Iago?" Donald asked. Iago flew to face them, hovering by a stone on a pedestal.
"Ya gotta understand. It wasn't my idea! It was Jafar. He made me bring you here. You don't know him like I do! He can be very convincing! He said if I didn't cooperate, he was gonna-" Iago said in a panic. X stepped back. That's why his heart felt so strange. He had been manipulated.
"Where is he?" Aladdin asked.
"C'mon Al, you've gotta forgive me," Iago pleaded.
"Where's Jafar!?" Aladdin repeated.
"Well, um, let's see, right about now, he's probably attacking the palace. I had no choice! His eyes, they got all creepy and weird!" Iago said. X felt inclined to believe him there wasn't really a reason to doubt him. But it seemed the others thought differently.
"Whatever. Iago, you're supposed to be our friend. But you've been playing both sides, just to make sure you save yourself," Sora said, crossing his arms.
"I knew you were still a bad guy," Donald said. X fought his urge to hit him.
"I'm sorry!" Iago said. He flew into an urn in his distress, triggering some kind of destruction mechanism. AS the ruins began to fall apart, the carpet arrived, offering to carry them all out.
"Let's go!" Aladdin yelled as the group scrambled onto the carpet.
They flew through the collapsing ruins, barely avoiding being crushed several times. The carpet dropped them at the city walls. It stood leaned over almost in half, as if it were a human panting.
"Get some rest, Carpet. You earned it," Aladdin said.
"C'mon, let's get Jafar!" Iago said. X nodded in agreement, pausing when he saw Sora cross his arms and glare.
"And who asked you?" Sora asked.
"The palace is through there. Hurry!" Aladdin said, ignoring the argument.
They ran through Agrabah, weaving through the shops. They stopped at the peddler's shop, finding him standing outside nervously.
"I guess you know everything now, eh?" the peddler asked, wringing his hands.
"You can't keep shady stuff secret for long," Sora said crossing his arms. X stood behind them bouncing on the heels of his feet in a manner similar to Y. They really didn't have time for this.
"So true," the peddler agreed. "I had snuck into the Palace to, er, borrow some treasure when I heard this... voice. It said: 'Release me, and I will give you an even greater reward.' 'Who are you?' I asked. The voice spoke again. 'The true Sultan of Agrabah' he said. 'Imprisoned by villains.' Oh! Why did I believe such a tall, tall tale? Perhaps I was under Jafar's spell. Yes! That must be it!"
"And I'm sure the treasure had nothing to do with it, right?" Sora asked.
"Maybe a bit," the peddler agreed sheepishly. "But Jafar, he never gave me a thing."
"So where did you get all your treasure?" Sora asked.
"Why, the man in the black coat, of course," the peddler said. X frowned, that explained his suspicious behavior earlier.
"Organization XIII!? I knew it!" Sora said.
"Why would they give a peddler all this treasure?" X asked looking around in wonder. More importantly, how had they gotten all this treasure? They weren't exactly the type of group to gather money and material possessions.
"The treasure was a gift, so I would tell no one about Jafar's return. He said he would destroy Jafar after turning him into a 'Heartless.' So there was no need to upset Argabah," the peddler explained.
"And you bought that?" Sora asked.
"I'm a merchant. And a good one, at that. I'll buy anything if the price is right. It would have been a successful transaction if I hadn't been seen," the peddler answered. X was grateful he was at the very least honest, if not the best human alive. Not that anyone really was.
"Oh, you're so kind," Iago said sarcastically, earning a glare from most others. Rather than make another fight out of it they ran to the palace, trying to make up the time they had spent talking to the peddler.
"Just wait, Jafar! You'll get exactly what's coming to you!" a princess said as they arrived at the palace. She was chained up with an older man beside her.
"Indeed I will, Princess. All of Agrabah will belong to me, while you, you, my queen, shall weep at my side for all eternity!" Jafar said. The princess, X assumed was Jasmine judging from how bright her heart was, struggled against her chains. "Oh, please. Right about now, your precious Aladdin is whispering your name, with his last breath." Jasmine gasped seeing the group behind Jafar. The vizier turned slowly glaring at them.
"What was that you were saying Jafar?" Aladdin asked. Jafar directed his gaze to Iago, who had perched on X's shoulder.
"You dare defy me! You useless bird!" Jafar yelled. He raised his staff, but X quickly brought up his daggers to protect the red bird. He seemed to desperately be trying to change, and X wanted to allow him that chance. Jafar smirked, changing where his staff was aimed and shooting magic at Aladdin.
"Al!" Iago yelled, flying in front of the magic hit. He took the hit, falling onto the ground limply.
"Iago!" Goofy called out.
"You'll be joining him very soon!" Jafar said. With a burst of magic, he took on the form of a genie, though he was red in color. He ripped off a tower of the palace and dropped it on the group.
"Whoa!" Sora yelled.
"Run!" Aladdin yelled.
They tried to outrun the debris, nearly falling as they did. They were rescued by the carpet that took them up into the air.
"All shall bend to my will! The world is mine to control!" Jafar yelled, his deep voice echoing through the city.
It was an aerial fight, one of X's least favorite ways to fight. They struggled to get close enough to land a blow on Jafar. And without all of Carpets hard work, the fight wouldn't have been possible. X did his best with magic, but it wasn't much help.
They managed to defeat Jafar, Sora landing the final blow. He smirked looking over his shoulder as Carpet flew away from Jafar again.
"No," Jafar said looking at his hands again. "How can I be defeated again, by a pack of filthy street rats?"
"Don't mess with street rats!" Sora yelled. X snickered, he could think of a few reasons why that was true. Street rats could be very difficult to handle.
Jafar exploded into dust leaving behind only the damage he caused. The group panted looking at each other with lopsided grins.
"You went mano a mano with Jafar, and you didn't invite me, Al?"
X jumped once again at Genie's appearance. He laughed to himself as Aladdin sheepishly rubbed his head.
"Sorry, Genie. Things happened kinda fast," Aladdin said. Genie turned his back on him, crossing his arms.
"And I had some new moves to show off, too," he said with a pout.
"But, Genie, we still need your help!" Donald said.
"Who's going to fix Agrabah?" Sora asked.
"Oh, yeah! One super-duper spruced-up Agrabah comin' right up! You won't even recognize the place when I'm through with it!" Genie said turning back around excitedly.
"Just like it was, please," Aladdin said with a chuckle.
"Really? Same old same old?" Genie asked. Both Sora and Aladdin nodded. Genie sighed as he turned and cast his magic over the city, returning everything to normal. "All right. Et voila! Next time let me put in a few swimming pools, 'kay?"
"I guess Agrabah's all right now," Sora said as Aladdin stretched.
"Yeah! Thanks, guys," he said smiling.
"Hey, you behave yourself, got it?" Sora said, turning to Iago who had recovered sometime during the fight. He was perched on one of the stalls.
"I most definitely got it! No more lookin' out for number one. I'm reformed! I wanna be a good friend, like Genie, but I can't do anything to help you. What kind of friend is that?" Iago asked, slumping slightly.
"Oh no- it's not like that, Iago. Friends don't have to 'do' stuff. As long as you have fun hanging out together, that's all that matters," Sora explained. X nodded in agreement.
"So, what do you guys do for fun?" Aladdin asked, looking at the group.
"We do this!" Donald said. He and Goofy were making a strange face that left X in shock.
"I swear I don't know them," X said looking away, rubbing the bridge of his nose.
"Uh, that's not quite what I meant," Aladdin said.
"Well, anyway," Sora said, crossing his arms behind his head again.
"Ow, my back," Iago said, spreading his wings to stretch them out.
"Gawrsh, Iago. I hope ya didn't hurt yourself," Goofy said.
"Well, at least I can still fly," Iago said, taking off to demonstrate his point. Goofy walked underneath Iago, prepared to catch him if he fell.
"Look out!" Donald said as Goofy crashed into a market stall.
"Ooh! Was that my cue? Am I on? C'mon, Al, lemme build a freeway or something!" Genie said reappearing.
"Everything's fine. Don't panic," Aladdin said. Magic shot everywhere despite his words. "Genie!"
"But I can't hold it any longer!" Genie said as he spun in the air. "Oh, that's good! Sora! Donald! Goofy! You guys are too much! If you're ever in the mood for some more cosmic razzle-dazzle, gimme a shout, ok?"
"You got it!" Donald agreed.
"Well, you've done it again, Sora. Don't forget about us, ok?" Aladdin asked.
"I won't," Sora said smiling.
"And Sora, about that friend of yours, the one you're looking for. You'll find him. Trust me," Aladdin said firmly. Sora nodded, smiling at the thought of his friend.
