Chapter 21: Testing Loyalties

Remi lit the torches on the side wall of the archive hut, bathing the room in a brilliant hue of reds and oranges. Abu "ooh"ed and "ahh"ed over how organized the shelves, desks and chairs were in the room. Aladdin's brows raised as he also took in the arrangement of everything around them.

"This is where you work?" Aladdin asked. "The upkeep of this place is incredible. Really organized and spacious-looking even with the actual space being small."

Remi grinned widely. "Thanks Aladdin. This is where I maintain the records of the village. You'll also be happy to know that I built every piece of furniture that you see here. Happy space, happy life, that's what I always say. Although," his smile faded slightly as he spoke his next words, "Most of my working life here in Gloloria has been keeping track of all the people killed by the Deathseeker."

"That's a heavy load to carry," Aladdin said. "Considering what I'm here searching for, I get it."

Remi narrowed his brow. "I remembered you saying you were looking for someone, but you didn't tell me who when you arrived. If I'm venturing a guess, you're looking for someone already dead."

"Yeah, unfortunately I don't know who he is." Aladdin told Remi everything he'd seen in the Deathseeker's projected nightmare that morning. Remi listened with a mixture of horror and fascination as the two sat at a table in the middle of the room near the shelves of scrolls and books. When Aladdin finished, Remi sat back in his chair, appearing to process everything Aladdin told him. In the end, his cheeks puffed out with the breath he let out.

"Doesn't sound like anyone I know either, and you gave a detailed description of him. I'm sorry that I can't help you on that end. But if that man was a villager here, his name and portrait should be in our archives."

"Wait, you guys keep portraits of the people in your city?"

Remy smiled, but it was one that Aladdin couldn't help but see more than a few layers of pain behind it. "There was an artist who lived for a long time who would draw portraits in our records of every villager killed by the Deathseeker, especially those who had an important role in our village. Unfortunately, she was killed in one of the last attacks the Deathseeker waged here, well before you guys came along. Also worth saying that she was the woman who raised me in this village when both of my parents were killed by the Deathseeker when I was younger."

Aladdin didn't know what to say. "Remi, I -"

Remi held up a hand, which made Aladdin fall silent. "You don't have to apologize. If anything, I'd be happy if the portraits she was able to do helps you find who you're looking for. I'm sure she'd be happy about it too. Take all the time you need to search these records - they're here for you and your friends to look through. Though I did have one other question for you about the deathwalking vision you had - did you recognize the place where the man was being held captive?"

Aladdin thought for a long moment, closing his eyes and thinking back through as much of the nightmare as he could tolerate. He told Remi about how the man had been underground, pinned to a rocky wall in shackles as the water level rose higher and higher.

Remi's eyes widened with recognition. "Think I might know where that is. It's a little too far for any villager to travel today, but you could probably get there quickly with your Carpet or if your Genie took you there. There used to be a lighthouse outside of Gloloria, a little further out from where you guys fought the Deathseeker. No one's been there for a long time - it's totally wrecked. The Deathseeker destroyed it years ago. Rumor has it that the underground basement of that lighthouse is still accessible. But if you get trapped down there, and the waves come in, especially during high tide..."

"There's no getting out alive from that," Aladdin finished. "Makes sense that someone could drown there. Guess if I can figure out who was trapped, maybe I can take Genie and the others to see if there are any other clues to what might've happened there."

Remi raised an eyebrow. "You think you might find something to help fight the Deathseeker?"

"The Deathseeker wouldn't have shown me that deathwalking nightmare if it wasn't significant. I wanna find out the connection between that one and the others I've had. I can't explain why, but," Aladdin paused a moment, struggling to find words for his thoughts, "I have a feeling we're missing something important. If I don't look into this, then I know that it won't be a good thing when we face off against the Deathseeker, whether it's tomorrow or in the near future."

"So you're checking everything you can so you don't have regrets? Makes sense," Remi said with a shrug. "Even if you don't find anything, Aladdin, I don't think you need to justify your reasons for looking into this more closely to anybody, especially not to me. Just be careful, okay? Hate for anything to happen to you since we're so close to defeating this sea demon for good."

Aladdin stood from his seat. "Definitely. Thanks Remi. I appreciate your help."

Aladdin and Abu spent the next several hours searching the archives for the mysterious man in Aladdin's nightmare. Remi had to tend to errands in the village, so he left the two to search on their own. Aladdin described in detail the man to Abu, so Abu knew who to look for. Abu opened several scrolls looking for portraits of townsfolk that might have resembled the man, some of which he threw into a pile behind him once he was done. Aladdin resisted the urge to tell him to keep the scrolls as organized as they were when he took them off the shelf, but figured he'd help in the clean up after. Plus, the monkey was working through his stack much faster than Aladdin.

The reason for Abu's speed was simple; he was looking through the list of names of people who matched the records of Deathseeker victims featured on the memorial. Aladdin's stack had more to do with missing persons who were never accounted for after the Deathseeker's attacks. He came across one name that caught his eye and their respective role. He read it aloud.

"Saztou. Lighthouse keeper, medic, and sorcerer."

"Huh?" Abu asked. "Sorcerer?"

Aladdin looked up from the missing persons scroll he held in his hands. "That surprised me too, Abu. You have any portrait scrolls of anyone by the name of Saztou? If not, I'll look over by the shelf again."

Abu moved through several scrolls that surrounded him, before he found a scroll marked on the outside with the letters "Sat - Saz." He threw the scroll to Aladdin with a single paw, which Aladdin had to scramble to catch successfully.

"You could've just brought it over," Aladdin groaned. "Let's see what we have here." Aladdin undid the binding around the scroll, gradually working through the hand drawn portraits. Saztou was the last portrait in the collection.

Aladdin's breath caught at the sight of the hand-drawn portrait. Abu screeched with concern, noticing Aladdin's sudden silence.

"That's him," Aladdin said, his voice slightly shaken. "That's the man who was killed in my nightmare. Guess I should've known the connection would be through the lighthouse since he maintained it before he went missing. But since he was in the list of missing people from the village, that means no one up to this point knew he was dead. Not until now."

"Oh no!" Abu cried.

He looked up to Abu. "Let's clean up everything here and head back to Tani's cabin. We should tell Genie and the others what's going on."

"No wonder Gloloria's gettin' targeted by that big sea demon. They had a sorcerer livin' here for years! The city's practically a magic magnet," Iago said as the group rode on Carpet towards the lighthouse ruins that afternoon. Aladdin was surprised - and thankful - when everyone agreed to go with him to the ruins to investigate. Even Iago, though the bird had begrudgingly agreed.

Jasmine folded her arms across her chest. "Not a nice thing to say, Iago." Her fingers curled into her palms, so much that her nails bit into her palms. "For no one to know Saztou had been killed by the Deathseeker is both sad and horrifying."

Genie sat next to Aladdin, his own posture stiff with nerves as they rode Carpet. "I've known a fair share of sorcerers over my days in the lamp, but Saztou is one I don't know. Then again, I didn't know about Gloloria either before we came here. Saztou died before a lot of the villagers currently in Gloloria knew who he was - a generational gap making the mystery longer than it should've been. His influence on the town still remains in everything they do, like Tani mentioned before we left."

Aladdin nodded. "Ezele told me that the knowledge he has of the medicines he makes came directly from writings and teachings passed down from Saztou. How he was taught came from others who learned the same preparations. The fact that those medicines have helped so many people in the wake of the Deathseeker's attacks," He trailed off, looking over the calm skyline, with steadily churning waves rolling towards the shore. "I wouldn't be alive right now if it hadn't been for that."

Jasmine gently threaded her fingers through Aladdin's as she held one of his hands. "It makes sense that you want to find out what happened to him. Maybe we can give closure to the citizens of Gloloria once we explore the lighthouse."

Aladdin met her gaze. "That's the plan. But we need to be ready for anything." His other hand moved over the hilt of a short sword strapped to his back, just in case they needed the weapon for the trek ahead.

The group arrived at the ruins, which looked like it hadn't been visited in as many years as it'd been destroyed. Large pieces of the once looming building were scattered and half buried in the sands. The wind whipped around them, waves crashing against the shoreline.

"So maybe I should let you guys know that I'm not good with bein' underground and having to swim," Iago said. "Tight spaces with water make me claustrophobic, so I'm just gonna stick around up here, make sure the sun doesn't set before you guys get out of there."

Genie grinned. "Actually, Iago, you took the words right out of my mouth for what I was going to tell you to do. Carpet's gonna be up here with you keeping you company just in case of an emergency." Genie turned his attention to Carpet, who gave a short salute. "Rug Man, I think you'd be better staying up here with Iago. Between me, Al, Jas, and Abu, I think we've got some good hands on deck. We'll call you if we need you."

"How are we supposed to enter the lighthouse?" Jasmine asked. "It's not like we can go through the front door. It looks like we could have something crash down on top of us for even trying."

"There has to be another route in, probably a little further up the shoreline," Aladdin said.

Genie used his magic to create a little location device, which traced a path up the beach past the lighthouse. "According to this, we'll have to go a little further inland and then backtrack to the shore. We'll go from that route since it's safer. But we'll probably need to leave our shoes behind - it's gonna get a little squishy the closer we get to the lighthouse. And we only have a limited amount of time before it gets dark. High tide is supposed to be a little after sunset."

The four of them nodded, making their way to the underground passage that Genie directed them toward. At first the path beneath the ground was solid earth, but it quickly became muddy and soon became ankle deep standing water.

Abu shivered, scrambling up to Aladdin's shoulder as he looked around the area.

"Definitely doesn't look like anyone's been down here in a long time," Aladdin noted as Genie lit torches on the sides of the passage walls.

Genie shrugged. "Wouldn't guess anyone had a reason to, considering how far this lighthouse is from Gloloria. Whatever was here - either people picked up and left carrying it with them or the Deathseeker destroyed it."

The group walked in silence as they made their way down the path, but it was Abu who started screeching in a panic when they saw several skeletons half sunken into the dirt and mud of the path.

Genie looked more than a little uncomfortable. "Well, I think we expected some lingering unpleasant sights and evidence of the Deathseeker's rampage. Al, does any of this seem familiar to you?"

Aladdin at first started to say something, but stopped abruptly. "No, wait a minute." He stopped walking at a fork in the pathway. His memory of the nightmare flickered, like a flame trying to catch and take shape into a full fire. "I think we need to go this way. It shouldn't be too far from here."

"But isn't the lighthouse a little further up? We should probably take the direct path if we're going there. There doesn't seem to be much else in this area that we can search," Jasmine said.

"We can work our way in that direction eventually, especially since we're trying to figure out what happened here. But I'm thinking first about exploring the last place I saw Saztou. This direction looks the most familiar."

Jasmine nodded. "Good point, better to see what we can now so we can hurry out of here once we're done. Lead the way."

The group walked until they came to an area in the underground passage that had water about as high as Aladdin and Jasmine's calves, but not quite at their knees. The entire area was difficult to see in the dark, with a musky smell that made Aladdin miss the sea salt breeze of the ocean. His hair hung in damp strands around his face and down the nape of his neck.

The area they stood was a dead end, so it would they would have to backtrack. Jasmine had been right, there wasn't anything further to explore along the path. Aladdin's eyes scanned what he could in the darkness, even as Genie shifted between lighting torches in the area and looking around with a light on a hard helmet he wore on his head.

Abu followed Aladdin's cautious gaze over the area, but ultimately found something that caught his eye as Genie's light passed over something that was green and sparkling a distance away. Abu's eyes went round and wide, the monkey licking his lips at what he believed was treasure.

Jasmine saw it too. "There was something over that way that I saw in Genie's light. It looked like some sort of jewel." Jasmine walked ahead, approaching the direction.

"Uh...you sure it wasn't a trick of the water, Jas?" Genie asked. "I doubt we'd find any treasure here unless...nevermind!" Genie's headlamp passed over the gem again, and all of them saw the amulet - a silver chained treasure with a large green stone in the center.

But then all of them saw the skeleton whose neck the amulet hung around. Aladdin felt his head ache with the familiar sight of a man once bound by shackles at his hands and feet, struggling as the area filled with water.

As Abu screeched in fear at the sight of the long dead man, Aladdin knew who it was and confirmed it aloud. "That's Saztou, as I thought. Part of me knew we might find him here. Really thought seeing it for myself would give closure to his story. But I was hoping we wouldn't because..." He trailed off, not wanting to finish.

Genie put his hands gently on Aladdin's shoulders as Abu lept onto a nearby elevated rock, away from the pools of water. "Because then it would make the nightmare you saw true, right?"

Jasmine shook her head. "Too cruel a fate for someone to die alone in a place like this. Though it looks like the amulet around his neck hasn't been tarnished, even after all this time."

Aladdin raised a brow, as he studied the brilliance of the treasure in front of them. "Wait a minute, I don't remember him ever wearing an amulet. Maybe I might've missed it, but I'm pretty sure something like that would've stood out."

Jasmine looked over her shoulder at Aladdin. "Maybe we should think about taking that amulet back to Gloloria. Maybe Tani or one of the other villagers could identify it as Saztou's."

"Good idea in theory," Genie said. "Probably would be something for someone bitten by the history bug like Remi to research the origins for."

"Awww," Abu said, seeming disappointed.

"What? Did you actually think we'd keep something like that for ourselves?" Genie said in a teasing tone. "Maybe it's a good thing we didn't bring Iago in here with us."

Jasmine approached the skeleton, ready to reach for the amulet to gently remove it. But Aladdin noticed the change in shape in the amulet. At first he thought it was a trick of the light that was on Genie's hat, but he saw the thickening of the chain, the way it coiled around the neck of the skeleton. The once large gem of the amulet shifted to a pair of large, slanting eyes and the silver body parted from a head that revealed a mouth of sharp, curved fangs.

"Jasmine, get away from there!" Aladdin cried, just as the amulet revealed itself in the hiss that echoed through the area. Jasmine screamed as the snake attempted to strike her. She avoided being bit, but fell backward into the water, giving the snake the advantage as it moved toward her.

Genie was quick to react. "I got her, Al. A little semi-phenomenal magic is more than enough to stop a mere water snake!" He aimed a well timed blast at the snake. It had been intended to create a net to ensnare the snake. The blast, however, bounced harmlessly off the snake, ricocheting back to Genie. The blast not only slammed Genie into a rocky wall and left his teeth cracking and falling out, but it also ensnared him in his own trap. "Okay, point taken, semi-phenomenal magic does not work on a magic water snake."

Abu leapt from rock to rock to be close to Genie, as the monkey tried to pull him out of the trap.

Aladdin drew the short sword from his back and charged forward. The standing water made his movement slow, but he knew he had to get to the princess as soon as he could. Jasmine scrambled backward through the water as the snake reared its head, growing larger and larger to the point where it towered over her in height.

But as the silver water snake moved to strike Jasmine again, Aladdin was able to swing his blade at just the right time, striking the large snake on the side of its face. It hissed in pain, drawing back as Aladdin moved between it and Jasmine.

"Princess, you okay?" Aladdin said looking at her over his shoulder.

"I will be, but you won't if you don't pay attention!" Jasmine cried. But even as the snake moved to strike again, Aladdin was able to block it from nearly biting his head off, placing the blade between himself and the snake's neck. It forced Aladdin to his knees in the water, but he was able to keep the snake from advancing toward him or Jasmine.

Aladdin grunted as he spoke. "I'll buy you some time to get away. See if you can help Genie out of his own trap."

"But what about you?" she asked.

"Help Genie, then you'll help me," he said, speaking through gritted teeth. "Don't waste time worrying about me otherwise. Just go!"

Jasmine scrambled to her feet. "Right," she said as she made her way out of the water and over several smooth rocks to race where Genie was still stuck to the wall. Abu had worked an opening through the net, but he seemed to struggle to pull Genie out of the indentation his body made in the rocky wall.

Aladdin was only partially surprised when the magic water snake started speaking to him. "You don't fight badly for being a part of a group of plunderers."

Aladdin struggled to focus as he kept the blade pressed against the body of the snake. If he so much as gave an inch, the snake would strike him. He could feel the hot breath of the snake, the flicker of its tongue just inches away from his face. "We're...not...plunderers," he managed.

"What are you then? I can think of no other purpose you would be here. Regardless of your reasons, I'm hoping to make it the final place you ever set foot in alive."

"Well I'm hoping you're wrong about that," Aladdin said. He realized almost at the last moment that the snake was setting up a trap for him. While it kept up the pressure of nearly biting his head off, it was using its tail to coordinate an attack from behind. Whether it wanted to knock him off balance or grab him, Aladdin didn't know, but he used the last moment to suddenly release the pressure against his attack. The snake was eager to bite him, only to realize that Aladdin had completely moved out of the path of attack.

The magic water snake's fangs dug into the path of its own flesh. It's hiss of pain echoed through the cave.

Jasmine and Abu finally managed to pull Genie out of the wall out of that moment. All three of them noticed what had happened, with Genie being the one who's expression brightened at the turn of events. "Way to go, Al!"

Aladdin managed to retreat a fair distance away from the snake, smiling a little though he'd gotten completely soaked from falling into the water. "Never thought I'd see the day a snake would bite its own tail. That's a new one even for me."

The magic snake was not amused. "Amateur," it hissed as its eyes glowed in the darkness of the cave. "Do not press your luck in this fight. You are not welcome here, that much is certain."

"Says who?" Aladdin's expression turned serious. "I don't believe we were ever introduced."

The snake hesitated only a moment. "I don't believe I owe an answer to any of you, considering you've trespassed on this territory."

Genie shrugged. "Well, in theory, we were invited by Gloloria's citizens to explore this place, and since it's their place, I would take their word over a random talking magic snake that used to be a treasure."

The snake whipped its head in Genie's direction. "Do NOT mock me. I am no mere talking snake nor trinket."

Genie rolled his eyes, speaking under his breath to Jasmine. "Could've fooled me."

Jasmine groaned as she shared a side eye glance toward him with Abu. "But it did fool me."

Genie cringed, realizing his joke intended to mock the overgrown snake didn't land the way he hoped. "Sorry," he whispered.

The snake looked angrily between the members of the group, even as Aladdin recovered enough to hold his sword out in a defensive pose, ready to strike back if he needed to. "It seems that I've come across a group that isn't aware of the depths of peril they find themselves in. Then again, perhaps one of you knows all too well, considering one of you carries the scent of near death at the claws of a former sky god."

Aladdin's expression faltered. "How do you know that?"

The snake turned its gaze squarely - purposefully - to Aladdin. It was close enough to him that Aladdin could see his own reflection mirrored in the snake's green eyes. "I can smell its remnants of darkness coming from you in waves. A non-lethal poison, of course, but enough to strike fear in the hearts of those that carry it in their blood. You have seen the dreams - the dreams of your own death. How close were those visions to the blood that demon spilled from you? How close was it to halting the breath that moves through you?"

"What would you care?" Aladdin snapped.

"Yeah! Yeah!" Abu echoed, but Jasmine shook her head as if telling him to stay out of it.

"It seems I finally have your serious attention, then." The snake began its approach toward Aladdin, though the prince cautiously stepped back, his sword still raised in defense. Jasmine, Genie, and Abu made their way across the stones and through the water to Aladdin's side. The snake only stopped its advance when the group stood around Aladdin for support.

"You okay kid?" Genie said as he moved slightly ahead of Aladdin as if to protect him.

"Yeah, I am now," he said to Genie, before turning his attention to the snake again. "I asked you a question - what would you care about the nightmares the Deathseeker gave me?"

The snake's eyes narrowed. "I wish to know whether those visions led you to me."

Aladdin hesitated only a moment, his grip tightened on the sword. "None of my dreams led me to a giant water snake guarding over the body of a man who didn't deserve to suffer when he died."

To the group's surprise, the snake flinched at Aladdin's words. "You knew of the fate of that sorcerer?"

"Through deathwalking, thanks to the Deathseeker," Aladdin answered truthfully. "And I ask again, what's it to you?"

The snake didn't say anything for a long moment. "I don't know your purpose here, boy, nor that of your companions. But if the Deathseeker's presence truly has found a way within you, you won't leave this place alive. It is a sentence that will be delivered expediently, so that history does not repeat itself."

Aladdin wasn't sure what that meant, but the snake moved its head in the direction from which they came. "Follow me, I'll take you through a safe route to the lighthouse's underbelly. You'll learn what happened back then."

As the snake moved ahead of them, Aladdin placed his sword back place. Genie turned to Aladdin. "Your call kid. If you think its leading us into a trap, say the word and we're out of here. "

Aladdin shook his head. "I don't think it's tricking us, Genie. I get the sense it's protecting something important. It's testing us - maybe testing me more specifically because of the Deathseeker's ties to me."

"What do you think it meant by the Deathseeker's presence being within you, Aladdin?" Jasmine asked.

Aladdin looked at her. "Don't know, but what I do know is that it definitely didn't like the fact that I knew of the sorcerer's death, among other things. Only one way to find out." He nodded in the direction the snake went. "Let's go guys."