Terror in Waves Chapter 20: Deathwalking, an aladdin fanfic

Chapter 20: Deathwalking

Genie blinked a few times as he took in what he'd just witnessed, appearing in the guise of a doctor - or a mad scientist, it could go either way - with a long white overcoat and crooked glasses. He also spoke in a distinctly professional accent. "Well, I dare say, that ought to be a record for 'fastest motion to projectile vomit perfectly into a receptacle without any fallout'. You would win that award splendidly, my good man."

Aladdin groaned as he lay under the covers of his bed in Tani's cabin. "Genie, this is not a time to be making jokes."

Tani entered the room as she saw Aladdin fall back against the pillow of the bed he lay in. She looked between Aladdin and Genie, who had turned back to normal. "Let me guess, Aladdin threw up the medicine he was supposed to take for the second time in a row?"

Genie grimaced. "Not only that, he threw up right back in the bowl he drank from, no spilling or anything. If it weren't for the icky way it looks right now, you could probably take it for a fresh batch of medicine. Maybe."

Tani shook her head. "Hand it over. I'll make another." After taking the bowl that Genie handed her, she turned to Aladdin. "I know you're sick, Aladdin, but you have to get all of this medicine down in order for your condition to improve."

"What happens if I don't?" Aladdin asked.

"Think about the pain you're feeling right now. Amplify it about ten times over many days, months, but not very many years. Slow death. Either your lungs or your heart will stop working and you won't be able to tell which one stopped first because...you know." She sighed. "Those are the effects of the Deathseeker's lightning magic, specifically the way he struck you. You have to take more medicine than Jasmine, Yirya or Miza did because the shock you received was more intense."

Aladdin nodded slowly, realizing he didn't have much of a choice. "I'll try again."

"Good. Just remember you'll have to take that same amount again two more times tonight. Once you do, you'll feel more like yourself by tomorrow afternoon. You won't be fully recovered, but you'll be able to talk and walk around without feeling winded." Tani left the room, leaving Genie and Aladdin sitting in silence for a long beat. Aladdin closed his eyes, his chest heaving as he struggled to breathe.

Genie used his magic to fill a mug of water that he handed to Aladdin as the prince tried to sit up again. "Kid, I know tonight was rough. At least you were able to tell us everything that happened." Genie paused a moment. "I think we all owe you an apology."

Aladdin looked alarmed, realizing just how worried his friend had been. "Genie, please don't. Like I said, you guys wouldn't have found that space easily, not even with your semi-phenomenal tracker. Arzin and I are alive. Worked out better than expected."

"Not just about that, kiddo," Genie said. "It's about shutting you out of the search completely."

Aladdin closed his eyes a moment, before nodding slowly. "You don't have to apologize for that either. I get it. You were trying to protect me."

"Still, I think you might want to take some time to have a little R&R, because getting shocked by a sky god turned sea demon is..."

"Not the best experience?" Aladdin finished, giving Genie a side-eye glance with one brow raised.

"That and a couple of other things. Just haven't come up with those other things yet."

Aladdin started to laugh, but quickly realized it was a bad idea as his stomach felt like it was turning over. "This would be easier if the medicine didn't taste like something rotten, though."

"You should put in a complaint to the master chef about the taste, then," Genie said while transforming into a chef himself. "Just a dash of this and a little bit of that - perfection! New and improved!"

"Doubt it. Ezele can't control what the herbs taste like to a certain degree. That's what he told me when he was making medicine to treat Yirya." Aladdin turned his head to look fully at Genie. "Did Ezele talk to Arzin?"

Genie transformed back to his usual form before answering. "Not yet. Arzin's probably not going to wake anytime soon, mostly from being overtired. Ezele's given Arzin an anecdote for the Vessel stuff though. That should help keep the Big Bad out of that noggin of his for a while."

"How about Yirya and Miza? Are they okay?"

"Yirya's going to make a full recovery, that's good news too." On the next point, Genie smiled a little. "Miza was actually trying to defy her bedtime to come visit you after we got back, but Ezele told her that she could see you tomorrow. She's doing fine otherwise."

"Good, glad to hear it." Aladdin opened his mouth to say something else, but appeared to think better of it. He looked away.

"What's up, kiddo? Easy to tell when the wheels of your head are turning in overdrive, and it looks like that time might be now."

Aladdin didn't look at Genie as he spoke the words. "Been so focused on trying to make things right that I didn't think about what would happen if I became a Vessel myself. I can't imagine what it would look like turning against you guys, against the people I care about. And to find out that I wasn't in control of my own body and mind, do things I would never think of doing at all."

Genie looked about as sad as Aladdin felt as the prince turned to face him. "At least with every scuffle you've had with the Deathseeker so far, you've gotten your injuries treated by either Tani or Ezele. They would've known if you'd turn into a Vessel before now. But you're thinking about how Arzin would feel about it once he finds out, right?"

"Yeah. I feel bad for him, even after the way he's treated us."

Tani entered the room at that moment. "Okay, I have another bowl. Genie, you want to do the honors?"

Aladdin winced. "There's no other way to take this medicine, is there Tani?"

"Afraid not. Just do the best you can. If you get through this one, you'll only have two more to go. You should start feeling a bit more relief from the first full dose, though, so keep that in mind."

Genie transformed into the same doctor with the crooked glasses from before. "Okay, drink up, Subject Agrabah Prince."

"Fine. Third time's a charm, right?"

Genie gave him a thumbs up. "Go for it!"

Aladdin took the bowl, stared at the steaming concoction for a long moment before getting enough courage to drink the whole half bowl of medicinal soup. The taste was far too vile to try to sip it, and the way it went down his throat felt like it was twisting his heart in knots. In the end, as pale as he looked after drinking it, he kept it down without wanting to throw up. Genie turned into a cheerleader waving pom-poms with the letter A on the sweater uniform he wore, but Aladdin couldn't manage to say anything. He did end up holding up two fingers though, which meant bringing on the next bowl.

Aladdin hoped that he could get through the next medicinal soup bowls and fall asleep before his stomach had a chance to disagree.

Let me out!

His voice echoed through the room, the only sound other than the chains that bound him to the wall as the water filled the area. He struggled against his binds until they rubbed his skin raw around his wrists and ankles. He couldn't tell how many days he'd been stuck down there, but he knew if he didn't get out, this would be his watery grave.

The whole area was too cold. He felt bumps prickle his skin, his toes curling as the water covered them. It was rush of cold that flooded through him in stages. His legs, his waist, chest, arms, neck, lips. He struggled to pull himself upward so it wouldn't cover his nose. But the water was too high, too fast in how quickly it rose.

He wondered how long he would be able to hold his breath as the bubbles around him spiraled. Soon it wasn't long before his lungs betrayed him. He needed the comfort of his next breath, craved it as the pressure grew.

Need to breathe...

Needtobreathe, needtobreathe, needtobreathe, need, Need, NEED...

Aladdin woke with a gasp, sitting upright as his own body mimicked the call of the nightmare. Only this time, he didn't see himself as the man who was trying to get air, it was another person entirely. It was different from the others that the Deathseeker had given him before. What did this one mean? Some of the narratives in each of his nightmares had made sense given the stories he'd heard about the Deathseeker. This was the first one that was completely out of his grasp.

"Every. Single. Time. I'm so tired of this," he said aloud, allowing his forehead to rest on his knees and trying to steady his breathing. It wasn't the first thinly veiled threat the Deathseeker had given him, but he wanted every nightmare he'd had from the Deathseeker to be the last. He knew they weren't certainties, but visions of what could be or what had already happened. Still, the experience they each gave him both unnerved and frustrated him.

Aladdin decided to focus less on letting them bother him and more on preparations for the battle ahead. He knew he had at least another day before the Deathseeker would possibly show. It wasn't much time, but it was enough.

Usually Abu would take the moment to jump on his shoulder and curl his tail around Aladdin's neck while asking if he was okay. Aladdin knew Abu wasn't there, but he didn't realize that he wasn't alone until he heard the voice speak from the doorway. "Aladdin."

It didn't surprise him as much as the nightmare had, but her calm voice made his head snap up to look in the doorway where she stood. "Jasmine. Didn't see you there."

She shook her head, but Aladdin couldn't miss the fact she looked more than a little uncomfortable. "Just wanted to check in on you. Tani said she would be taking a shift at the diner this morning. Did you want to walk over for breakfast?"

"Sure. I'll get ready." A long silence passed between them. It was so painfully awkward that Aladdin wasn't sure how to fill the space. He had an idea that she wanted to say more, but she nodded to him.

"I'll meet you outside." Before he could respond, she closed the door behind her.

Shortly after that, Aladdin changed and swept his hair back in a style that didn't hang over his eyes as much, before leaving Tani's cabin to meet Jasmine, Abu, and Iago on the beach. Since Carpet didn't need to eat, he was already helping some of the early morning workers haul supplies for the battle stations.

"Geez, Al - it took you long enough. Not enough hours in the morning to afford wasting time!" Iago grumbled.

Aladdin rolled his eyes. "It's still the early part of sunrise - it's not that late."

"Maybe, but some of us are starvin' here! Anyway, since Tani's doing the cookin' this morning, we have somethin' to look forward to!"

"Yummy!" Abu said, licking his lips and rubbing his belly as he ran ahead of the group.

"Yo, monkey, wait for me! You're not the only one who wants first dibs!"

"Those two never miss a beat when thinking about food," Aladdin said to Jasmine while rolling his eyes. "But Tani's cooking is worth getting excited about, so I can't blame them. Kind of looking forward to it myself."

"Same here," Jasmine answered, smiling a little as she turned to face Aladdin as they walked alongside each other. "Your voice sounds a lot better this morning, by the way."

Aladdin rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. "Yeah, the medicine Tani gave me last night really helped. Still a little soreness when I'm breathing a certain way, but nowhere near as bad as last night." He looked at Jasmine, returning the same smile, but he saw her quickly look away. Something was definitely up, but he wasn't sure if he should bring it up now or later.

He decided it was probably better to see what he could do to ease her discomfort then. "Jasmine, wait a minute."

Aladdin walked a little ahead until he was facing her, using his hand to tilt her chin up to him. She was more than a little surprised, maybe because she wasn't expecting him to be so direct.

"What gives? Something I did?" Aladdin's voice was soft as he studied her, his brow furrowed with concern.

"What? Oh no. No, Aladdin. Nothing like that. I'm just..." She took a moment to gather her thoughts. "I wanted to talk to you after breakfast about a few things, but I didn't want to worry you before then. Mainly asking questions and talking about other things I've learned since we met last night."

"I'm okay with talking to you after breakfast, but if you want to talk before - I'm up for that too. Looks like it's really weighing on you, whatever's on your mind."

She fully looked at him then. "It's also me being worried about you being worried. You had a horrible night last night, and looks like this morning was rough for you too. Take it you had another nightmare? Deathseeker related?"

"Yeah," he said honestly. "Wasn't like the other ones, though. I wanted to ask Ezele about it, but it was the first time I had a vision from the Deathseeker where I saw someone other than me in it."

Jasmine's brows rose. "That's new."

"Yeah, but still didn't stop me from experiencing the same thing he did," he said with a wince.

Jasmine used one arm to circle his waist while her other hand lay against his chest. His heartbeat pulsed firm beneath her fingers. "That's why I didn't want to bring anything up before breakfast. Just know that if you want to talk about anything at all - I'm here, okay?"

He answered her with a soft, but firm kiss on the lips as he leaned into her embrace. When their lips parted, he placed his forehead against hers. "I hope that tells you how much I'm thankful for that."

She smiled. "It did."

He took her hand in his as they continued walking to the diner. "First breakfast, then we talk."

Aladdin told Jasmine about the nightmare in about as much detail as he could after they ate. He was equal parts knowing and surprised about her respective news. As they walked along the beach of Gloloria - looking between the calm ocean waves and the people making preparations for battle along the shoreline - she revealed to him more news about Arzin.

"It's not a surprise that Ezele would remove him from everything to do with our battle regarding the Deathseeker. Neither him nor Yirya are going to be involved with the battle plans or the fight. Yirya is still too weak to do much, but from the discussion that she had with Ezele, as hard as it is, she's agreed to treatment and to stay away from Miza for the time being. It's hard for her, being Miza's mother, but at least they were able to make that agreement."

Aladdin shook his head. "Poor Miza too. Not being able to see her mother whenever she wants must be hard on her, especially since this is the first time she's been able to really talk to her in years."

Jasmine nodded. "I agree. But that's not the only thing. It was earlier this morning before any of us woke that Ezele talked to Arzin. He's awake and seems to be doing okay. Ezele told his brother the truth - all of it."

Aladdin's eyes widened. "What happened?"

Jasmine hugged the sides of her arms. "Ezele told Genie, and Genie told me. Arzin didn't take much of the conversation well, especially with not being able to participate in the fight against the Deathseeker. But ultimately he believed his brother. He's agreed to full treatment. As a part of that treatment, Ezele told Arzin that he had to stay away from Yirya, Miza, and us. Ezele made it a point to emphasize Arzin staying away from you, considering how badly he hurt you last night."

"It wasn't all his fault," Aladdin said. "But I definitely agree with that. Guessing that means since Yirya's a Vessel too, we should keep our distance from her as well."

Jasmine nodded. "Ezele's still monitoring others in the village who have been inflicted with the Deathseeker's curse. He wanted us to know that it doesn't seem like anyone else is a Vessel for now, but that we should tread lightly. At least until we can battle the Deathseeker directly."

Aladdin's expression darkened. "Well, we don't have too much time before that happens."

She studied him then. "I know you said it gave you three options and that he wanted your final answer before sunrise tomorrow. But what does that mean? Will the Deathseeker strike then?"

"Dunno, but I'm going to take that as a strong hint. We should be prepared just in case. The only thing I know for certain is that none of the options the Deathseeker gave me are ones that I'd choose. I make my own destiny, and I'm not bound to its rules at all."

"Now that's the Aladdin I know."

Aladdin raised a brow at her. "And love, I hope?"

She laughed. "And love, yes." This time she moved in to kiss him, but they were interrupted by a voice in the distance.

"Aladdin! Aladdin! Miza was looking for you!" Miza came running from a distance along the shoreline, her sandals clacking against her feet. Genie wasn't too far behind her, and he appeared a little guilty for some reason, though Aladdin wasn't sure why.

Jasmine smiled at Aladdin, squeezing his hand. "Go talk to her. She really wanted to see you this morning. I'll see you later, Aladdin. We can finish what we started later."

"See you," he said, returning Jasmine's smile as she released his hand and went to help some of the other villagers in making more weapons. Even as Aladdin knelt to meet Miza's height when the girl approached, he wasn't expecting her to tackle hug him to the sands. Part of him went between laughing and cringing at the pain of falling the ground. Miza appeared to realize this was a bad idea and drew back quickly.

"Miza's really sorry, Aladdin."

Genie shrugged, his expression sheepish. "I probably should've warned her. I mean, you're still recovering from the past several days."

"It's fine," Aladdin said, holding up a hand. "I took it as a good sign that she's happy to see me. Right, Miza?"

"Right!" Miza sat beside Aladdin as he sat up on the sands from where she'd tackled him. "Miza wanted to thank Aladdin for last night. She's...I'm glad you're okay."

"I'm glad you're okay too, Miza. I know a lot of things happened, but..." He paused, trying to find the words that he wanted to say to the girl. Miza looked at him, expectant and in good spirits. "I think we're in a really good place now."

"Is Aladdin ready for the battle against the Deathseeker?"

Aladdin's answer was confident and firm. "About as ready as I'll ever be. Just a matter of when the battle starts."

At that, Miza nodded. "Papa says Miza's too young to fight, but she'll be cheering everyone on and helping out in other ways. But still, I'd like to..." Miza trailed off for a moment as she looked past Aladdin. He didn't miss her gasp and sudden shift in tone - from lighthearted to a little fearful. Before he could speak to it, Miza turned back to him. "Miza's gonna go back to Papa's. He said he wanted to talk to you too, so you should visit our hut later."

"Uh, yeah, sure," he said, caught off guard, just as Miza gave him a little wave and darted in the direction of the diner.

"What was that all of a sudden?" Aladdin asked as he stood up, watching her disappear into the distance.

Genie's gaze turned in the direction Miza had been looking, his expression instantly turning from confusion to a cold anger - much different than his usual cheerful demeanor. "Al, not to alarm you, but I know exactly what had her running off like that. Don't blame her for it, either."

"What?" Aladdin followed Genie's gaze, just in time to see Arzin turning away from them, and walking in the other direction. Aladdin found his breath catch a little, his body stiffen at the sight of the man who attacked him. He knew his reaction wasn't right, that Arzin wasn't the true culprit of the attack the night before, but it still triggered the memory of Arzin throwing him against the wall, the lightning magic, his throat going raw from screaming with the pain.

It'd been hard for him to let go of that, even knowing the truth.

Aladdin closed his eyes, placing his hand against his chest as if to steady his heartbeat. It took him a long time to let the memory fade from his mind. By that time, he felt Genie's hands on his shoulders.

"You okay kiddo?" Genie said. When Aladdin opened his eyes and looked at Genie, Genie looked so worried that it was hard for him not to feel guilty at his friend's concern.

"I will be, Genie," he managed. "I will be."

"Deathwalking, that's what we call it." Ezele spoke firmly that afternoon when Aladdin went to visit him. It was after Aladdin explained the nightmare - the vision - that the Deathseeker showed him. "The Deathseeker has the ability to show you a vision of someone it killed. Well, I should say not just show you, but viscerally make you feel the same pain as its victim."

Aladdin's eyes narrowed. "But why would it show me that? I don't understand. I don't even know who that guy was."

Ezele shook his head. "Based on how you describe him, don't think I know him either. May have been someone the Deathseeker killed long before I was ever in its clutches. Still, no doubt in my mind that it was intended as a threat made towards you, Aladdin. Was there any indication in the nightmare of how that man was related to the Deathseeker at all? Or even where the man's death occurred?"

Aladdin shook his head. "For who the guy was, none that I remember. But the place - the place did seem familiar to me for some reason."

Ezele's expression softened a little. "I wouldn't want you to dig too deeply into something that causes you strife. But if you are willing to do it and are curious to discover the truth - you may want to look at that piece of it and go from there. Maybe even describe the man to others in Gloloria, see if they know who he was. If the man was a villager here and among the dead, Remi might be a good resource to ask. My mother is another resource. Even if she doesn't know the man, she could probably tell you who would know. And if that fails, the diner is a good source of information too."

Aladdin stood from his chair. "Thanks Ezele. I appreciate your help."

He shook his head. "No trouble at all, your highness."

Aladdin winced. "You really don't have to do honorifics with me. I'm not used to it."

Ezele blinked a few times before he burst into laughter. "I was so used to addressing the Princess as such that I didn't have the manners to ask your preference."

Aladdin smiled, his expression sheepish as he ran his fingers through his hair. "Aladdin or Al's fine."

"Al sounds weird," Miza said from the other room. "Miza thinks she'll still call him Aladdin!"

"Miza, that's rude to say to our guest," Ezele called out in response.

"Sorry, Papa!"

Aladdin covered his mouth to keep from laughing. He really did appreciate Miza's blunt way of saying what she felt. "I think that would probably offend Genie, but her secret's safe with me."

As Aladdin prepared to leave, Ezele placed a hand on Aladdin's shoulder. "Please feel free to come by if you need anything else, Aladdin, or even to visit the two of us if you seek company. I owe you for saving my life and for my return home. I know that the battle with the Deathseeker is looming ahead, but it's a waiting game at this point. We don't know for certain when and where it will strike. Any leads we can get towards discovering its intentions is worth pursuing."

Aladdin nodded. "I'm thinking the same. I'll let you know if I find out anything."

Ezele nodded. "Take care, friend."

As Aladdin walked away from Ezele's hut, his eyes scanned the beach, looking at all the work that the villagers had poured their efforts into over the past several days. He couldn't help but be impressed at how far they'd all come in such a short span of time.

"Good job, everyone - almost there," he said under his breath. He realized that it was still the early afternoon and that he had some time before he would help out on the next project. He wondered if it was worth pursing the identity of the man who'd been in the Deathwalking nightmare he'd had that morning. He hadn't told anyone, other than Jasmine, of the nightmare itself, but he did want to see if there was any significance to it besides the threat towards him.

I've spent more time being annoyed or afraid of these nightmares that I haven't been looking more closely at the links between them, besides the obvious, he thought. If looking closer gives us an advantage in fighting the Deathseeker and ending this once and for all for the people of Gloloria, then I can't afford to look away from it.

No matter how much it hurts me.

He put his fingers to his lips, whistling to the sky. Carpet came in a matter of moments, waited for Aladdin to climb aboard him.

"Carpet, let's head to the memorial. Remi would be there around this time of day. I need to ask him a few things. Probably better to start there and then if we need to ask others around town, it'll be faster to fly between."

Before Carpet could respond, the two of them heard a familiar screeching a distance away. Abu approached them with curious interest.

"Abu, you wanna come with? Take a break for a little bit?" Aladdin asked.

"Uh-huh."

He smiled. "Hop on, pal."