Keys to the Kingdom

by MiniJen

Thirteen Keys, scattered across the worlds. Whoever holds them all is destined to rule the heart of all worlds: Kingdom Hearts. As both light and darkness scour the worlds for these keys, Sora finds himself caught between standing alongside his friends as they fight for the light and struggling against the encroaching darkness invading his own heart. KH3 AU.

46. Chapter 45: Welcome to the Forty Thieves

Wow so uh, pretty interesting that I post a chapter that talks about fathers a lot on Father's Day. I honestly don't have a lot to say about that other than its a coincidence and that this chapter is kind of a mess? What can I say its been awhile since I've done a Disney chapter and this is mostly just setup anyway for the next chapter, which will be MUCH more interesting, I can promise you that. In the meantime though, I have to say Aladdin and the King of Thieves is a fun as hell movie that deserves to be represented in a KH game if Return of Jafar was in KH2. It's only fair after all. Anyway, with all that outta the way, lets get started!

---

Chapter 45: Welcome to the Forty Thieves

As an honorary member of the gang
That no one alive ever leaves
Ya gotta snatch and sneak
Or else your future's bleak
We got a lifetime contract that you're bound to keep
You wanna save your skin,
You'd better fit right in
Wel-wel-welcome to the,
Wel-wel-welcome to the
Forty thieves!

The usually steady sunbaked sands are suddenly broken as two sets of footsteps trudge across them, one of them lagging quite a bit behind the other. Despite the sweltering desert heat, Maleficent's pace remains steady, her long cloak sweeping behind her across the dry and dusty earth. Pete, on the other hand, barely manages to keep up with her as he tiredly drags his feet, wiping the sweat from his brow while struggling to keep his cool, both literally and figuratively.

"Gah!" he finally voices his frustration as he comes to a halt, prompting Maleficent to do the same. "It's hotter than an oven out here! Can we hightail it outta this world already? Maybe to somewhere nice n' cool for a change?"

"No," Maleficent replies simply, not turning to face him. "Not until I find what I'm looking for."

"Aw, what makes you think that dumb kid's even here?" Pete huffs, disgruntled. "He wasn't in any of the other worlds we looked in, which means he probably ain't gonna be in this one neither."

Maleficent says nothing to this for quite some time. Instead, she stands still, surveying the vast desert before her with some sort of unknown scrutiny. And then, after what feels like ages to Pete, she suddenly smiles when she senses exactly what she's been waiting for. "He is here," she at last counters, much to her partner's surprise.

"Whu-huh?" Pete blinks, bewildered. And just the tiniest bit worried, though he's careful not to let that worry show. "H-how do you know?"

"Because," she finally glances back at him. "It appears as though my precious Heartless has gained the ability to forge bridges through the in-between."

"Uh… what the hey is that supposed to mean?"

"It means," Maleficent scowls, annoyed. "That the boy can now summon dark corridors. Which is quite a boon to our cause, for the use of such a power makes him far easier to track. At least for someone who knows how to follow the trail that kind of darkness leaves behind, a skill I've all but perfected in my time."

"O-oh yeah?" Pete flinches, admittedly alarmed to hear such troubling news. "Well… what if it wasn't one of his dark corridors ya just felt? What if it was someone else's? We, uh, don't wanna go chasin' the wrong person down or anything, so why don't we just-"

"It is indeed my Heartless who has just opened a gateway to this world," Maleficent corrects him. "After all, there's no mistaking his unique, untapped power anywhere else. Power that will soon belong to me…"

With this, Maleficent continues on her way across the sandy landscape, with Pete apprehensively trailing along after her. "That's what I'm worried 'bout…" he mutters only to himself, hoping that he can somehow still find a way to dissuade her from this dangerous plan. Or better yet, that Sora can somehow find a way to miraculously escape from her covetous reach yet again, before he winds up trapped within it forever.

---

Sure enough, a dark corridor does indeed open up over some other part of the desert. And almost as soon as it does, Sora falls out of it, dropping to his knees mere seconds after stepping foot into the sand. Roxas and Xion are right behind him, and get a clear view of his collapse. It's startling, to say the least, enough to elicit sharp gasps from both of them as they immediately draw down to his level, not even noticing as the dark corridor they came through disappears unceremoniously behind them.

"Sora?" Roxas starts, his hands gripping his shoulders. He takes a look over his other, noticing his suddenly pale face, beads of sweat already forming on it despite them only just emerging into the desert heat. His breathing is short and shallow, his limbs trembling as he tries to keep them supporting his weight, and his expression is wrenched in visible agony, though where that agony is coming from is a mystery to them all. "Sora, what's wrong? What's happening?"

"I… I don't know…" Sora mutters, groaning as he grips his chest. Whatever is happening to him is something different, something he can't say he's ever really felt before, despite being well acquainted with pain by this point. He'd felt perfectly fine when they'd ventured into the dark corridor back in Twilight Town, yet now, he feels inexplicably awful, his insides ravaged by some sort of unknown malady. His head pounds, his forehead feels feverish, and his stomach turns to the point that he seriously starts worrying that he might get to see his last meal again. And between all of that, he can't even be bothered to begin trying to make sense of where such inescapable anguish is coming from.

Roxas stands, watching as Xion casts a quick healing spell over Sora, one that does ultimately nothing to ease his poor condition. However, it's only as he watches Sora try and fail to so much as stand on his own that he realizes what must be wrong here. While he and Xion have the benefit of the black coats they returned in, Sora has no such protection against the dangerous darkness within the dark corridors he now has access to. And without that protection, that darkness can just as well flow into his body freely whenever he goes through them. Roxas doesn't even need to think twice about whether or not that's exactly what Xehanort wants to happen to his proposed thirteenth vessel. Which is why he decides to put a stop to it before it can get any worse than it already is.

"No more dark corridors," Roxas orders, standing by as Xion helps Sora properly stand.

"W-what?" Sora asks, breathless and confused.

"We're not using dark corridors to get around anymore," Roxas reiterates sternly. "Not if going through them is going to do this to you."

"No, Roxas, it's ok," Sora counters, still struggling to stand on his own. "I've just gotta get used to going through them. I'll be fine-"

"Stop saying that!" Roxas sharply cuts him off. "Just admit it already: you are not fine! Nothing about any of what's happening to you is fine! Why don't you get that?!"

"Roxas…" Xion admonishes gently, even though her expression clearly shows that she agrees with him. Still, she hardly thinks such harshness is the way to go with Sora, not in the state that he's in now. "Sora," she begins much more carefully, hoping to ease him down from the shock Roxas' scolding had left him in. "We're just… worried about you," she continues, still keeping a gentle hand on his arm. "I know you might not want to hear this, but… w-what's happening to you-" She decides to be simple about it, tactful, knowing that this is a sore subject for all three of them. That it's something none of them really want to face, but they can't afford to ignore any longer. "It looks like it's getting worse."

And indeed it does. His hair is saturated white, to the point that only his roots really maintain their natural, yet fading brown. His eyes are largely gold now, with just a few sparse specks of blue still struggling to shine through the bright yellow tainting them. And that's not even mentioning his crimson-tipped claws, long, sharp, and by all accounts, corrupted. All evidence that he can't hide, that can't be concealed. Evidence that Sora still stubbornly tries to deny even now that it can't be denied any longer.

He lets out a wavering laugh, hiding his hands as he laces them together behind his head. "You guys worry too much," he rebuffs, trying not to think too much about how he used to tell Donald and Goofy the same thing. About how bittersweet it is to even think about the companion's he'd run from, the companions he'd hurt, at all. "So what if my hair's a little more white and my eyes are a little more yellow? It's not… great, but it's not like it's the end of the world, is it?"

"It might just end up being the end for you if we don't find a way to stop it," Roxas scowls, crossing his arms.

"Well… maybe we might find something here that'll help?" Xion proposes, trying to stay positive.

"Um, yeah, maybe," Sora shrugs somewhat passively. "Anyway, we really should start looking around for that Key first. For all we know, the Organization could already be somewhere around here looking for it too."

"I'm not sure how anyone would have much luck finding anything around here…" Roxas notes, glancing around the seemingly endless, vacant desert around them. "Are you sure we'll find any of those Keys in this world?"

"Positive," Sora grins as he presses onward toward the top of a nearby dune. "My Keys Instinct hasn't been wrong yet, so I don't see why it would start being wrong now."

Roxas and Xion linger behind for a beat, exchanging a mutually confused glance. "His… what?" Xion wonders, thoroughly lost.

"Might as well just go with it," Roxas sighs tiredly. "This'll go by a lot quicker if we do…"

So the pair follows him as he scales the short hill, though none of them go much further beyond that. Because as soon as they reach the top of the dune, they find a notable landmark resting in the distance, a familiar city set right in the heart of the desert itself.

"Agrabah!" Sora, Roxas, and Xion alike all exclaim in surprised unison. And in the process, they catch each other off guard just as much as the city itself has.

"Have you guys been here before too?" Sora asks the pair, curious.

"Yeah, a bunch of times, back when we worked for the Organization," Xion nods. "But… we've never seen it this busy before…"

"Me neither," Sora agrees, turning back toward the town. Sure enough, a steady stream of caravans, both on foot and accompanied by elephants, camels, and horses, trickles in through Agrabah's gates. Many of the arriving travelers are dressed in their finest attire, and plenty more tote all manner of riches and jewels as they head for the city, clearly on the way for some sort of auspicious occasion. An occasion Sora, Roxas, and Xion can't help but be immensely intrigued to learn more about.

As a result, they quickly fall in line with the rest of the travelers, eager to know what all of the excitement is for. And it isn't very long after they make it inside the city that they spot a familiar figure flying high over the bustling streets, darting through the air at a frenetic pace to get some last-minute preparations done.

"Oh!" Xion points up when she spots the blue blur first, diverting Sora and Roxas's attention in the same direction. "Isn't that-"

"Genie!" Sora exclaims, smiling at the sight of a familiar friend.

Even despite his high elevation, Genie hears this call as he continues speeding about the town, casting countless spells to decorate the usually dust-ridden streets. "Heya, Sora!" he greets quickly, casually as he zooms past the trio without stopping for a second. "Sorry, can't shoot the breeze right now, not when there's still so much to do. The corsages, the cummerbunds, the cake-oh, you would not believe how much planning and prep needs to go into a wedding these da-"

Genie finally stops himself short, screeching to a grinding halt directly in front of the bemused trio on the ground. "Sora!" he exclaims brightly, reaching down to enthusiastically shake the boy's hand. "So glad you could make it! And here I thought your invitation got lost in the mail. Guess tossing it out into the space between worlds was more reliable than I thought. Say, what's the deal with your updated 'do? Are you graying really early? Or is it just for the occasion? 'Cause you know, they say wearing white to a wedding is a bit gauche, no offense."

"Um… no," Sora shifts uncomfortably, absently running a hand through his whitening hair. "It's… uh…"

"And those nails!" Genie gasps dramatically as he grabs Sora's hand to get a better look at his claws. "Are you hoping to grow them out? Because if not, I can cut you a deal for the best manicure this side of the Sahara." At this, Genie shapeshifts into a nail salon artist, armed with all of the tools of the trade, including a file that he wastes no time sanding against one of the claws in his hold. "Did I mention I have glitter polish?"

Sora can't help but let out a small hiss of pain as Genie obliviously continues filing his claws, since their hard surface essentially takes the place of the soft skin his fingers had once been composed of. He quickly pulls his hand away, drawing it back toward him and holding it close protectively as he tries to play the matter off as nonchalantly as he can. "N-no thanks, Genie," he musters a small, feeble smile. "I'm good."

"Alright, but the offer's still on the table if you change your mind," Genie shrugs before turning his attention to the remaining pair in the party. "Ohoho! Looks like you brought two plus-ones with you, huh? Strange, I thought that if you were gonna bring anybody, it'd be Donald and Goofy. Now that I mention it, where are those two anyway?"

"They, uh… couldn't make it this time," Sora answers tersely, not wanting to elaborate much beyond that. "Anyway, Genie, this is Roxas and Xion."

"Aha! So you two do have names after all!" Genie exclaims, fixing the two with a knowing grin.

"You've met before?" Sora glances back at the pair behind him.

"Yeah, awhile back," Roxas replies. "But since we were with the Organization back then, we… sort of had to keep a low profile."

"Well, I'll tell ya what's anything but low profile," Genie interjects, shooting several magical fireworks up into the air above him. "The party we have going down right here in Agrabah!"

"What party?" Xion asks, intrigued.

"Only the party to end all parties!" Genie exclaims bombastically. "The shindig of the century! The soiree to put all others to shame! The most extravagant, extraordinary, extra-enchanted-courtesy of yours truly-wedding you'll ever see!"

"A wedding?" Sora inquires, smiling. "Who's getting married?"

"Aw, c'mon, kid, you saw the invitation, didn't you?" Genie returns with a wave of his hand.

"Um, no, I didn't."

"...Huh, so you didn't get it after all. That's the last time I use snail mail," Genie shakes his head. He briefly conjures up a small, snail clad in mailman attire in the palm of his hand before throwing it aside.

"Genie? The wedding?" Sora presses his former question once again.

"Oh! Sorry! In case you haven't noticed, I'm a bit 'all over the place' today," Genie confesses, splitting himself up into several dozen copies that surround the trio. "After all, it's not every day that my best buddy Al gets married!"

"Aladdin?" Sora grins, quickly joining in on Genie's excitement with this news. "Aladdin and Jasmine are getting married? Really?"

"You bet your Keyblade they are!" Genie clasps his hands together in delight. "The ceremony's set to start any minute now, but there's just one teensy-weensy, teeny-weeny little problem… Our groom is MIA! I've been searching high and low, turning the town upside down-" He briefly flips the entire city over at this, somehow defying gravity for everyone within it before setting it right again. "But there's no sign of Al anywhere! You kids might not know this, but we can't have this wedding without him. And if we don't have the wedding, then we won't get the deposit back on the catering! Oh, what do we do?!"

"Um… have you tried looking for him up at his old hideout?" Sora asks, pointing in the direction of said hovel.

"Of course I… haven't," Genie deflates somewhat at this. "Ya know, I should have thought to look there first. Anyway, let's get a move-on! We've gotta get this wedding on the road! Seriously after two movies and an 86-episode series, it's safe to say we've all been waiting for those two to tie the knot long enough!"

Without any further ado, Genie snaps his fingers, instantly teleporting himself, as well as Sora, Roxas, and Xion, all out of the bustling city streets and to somewhere much quieter. As unoccupied as it's been lately, Aladdin's old hovel feels bare and lonely, even as Genie reappears just outside of it. He's scaled himself up to a large enough size that Sora, Roxas, and Xion can all stand steadily on his palm and see into the open house to find that sure enough, Aladdin is there, accompanied by his loyal companion Abu. Though the monkey squeaks with a start upon spotting the arriving trio, Aladdin doesn't initially notice them, instead solemnly focusing on the time-weathered box resting in his arms.

"Hello! Somebody's gonna be late for his own wedding!" Genie calls, finally breaking his focus.

"Hold on, Genie," Aladdin grins, though he doesn't look back at his friend. "There's something I need for the wedding."

"Well, you better hurry up," Sora playfully teases as he steps off Genie's hand into the house. "You don't wanna keep Jasmine waiting, do you?"

"Sora!" Aladdin finally turns, a surprised grin filling his features. He quickly puts the box aside, hopping to his feet as he rushes over to pull Sora into a fond, friendly embrace. "I'm so glad you could make it! We thought you'd-whoa..." Aladdin succinctly stops himself short as the hug draws to a close and he gets his first good look at Sora's appearance. "Uh… What's with the new look?"

Before Sora can even try to answer, he's abruptly cut off as a familiar flash of red feathers flies down into the space between him and Aladdin. "New look? That's a bit of a understatement, don't ya think? I barely even recognized the kid when he waltzed in here a minute ago!"

Sora sighs, fixing the parrot with a disgruntled scowl. "Good to see you again too, Iago," he deadpans, crossing his arms.

Fortunately, Sora winds up getting a lucky break when Aladdin decides to mercifully change the subject. "So where are Donald and Goofy?" he glances around for the duo, only to find the other pair accompanying Sora in their stead. "And who are your new friends?"

"I'm Roxas," he introduces himself, accepting the hand Aladdin holds out for him to shake. True, he and Xion had both seen Aladdin from afar on their previous visits to Agrabah, but they've never had the chance to meet him face-to-face until now. Until Sora helps them forge the kind of connections the Organization had never let them to have before.

"And I'm Xion," she grins just as cordially. "It's nice to meet you, Aladdin."

"Nice to meet you guys too," Aladdin returns, smiling. "Any friends of Sora's are definitely friends of mine. You all are sticking around for the wedding, right?"

While Roxas and Xion's expressions fall into slight confusion at this, Sora readily perks up. "Are you kidding? We wouldn't miss it for anything!"

"Speaking of missing things…" Genie pipes up, conjuring up an oversized watch onto his wrist. "I don't wanna rush, you, Al, but time's ticking away over here!"

"That's what I was telling him!" Iago huffs, flapping over to take a perch on Genie's shoulder. "But he just had to get nostalgic for this run-down dump instead of checking out that huge room packed with wedding presents back at the palace like I wanted to do."

"It's not that," Aladdin shakes his head, reclaiming the box from earlier. "I just… it wouldn't feel right if I didn't have this with me today." He carefully opens it, allowing the others to see what's inside: a finely crafted dagger, with a sturdy sheath and an elegant handle emblazoned with the etching of a golden hand.

"Well, uh, that's a nice dagger," Genie notes with something of a nervous laugh. "Interesting nuptial accessory. It's a bit… sharp."

"It belonged to my father," Aladdin says softly, holding the dagger in his hands.

"Your father?" Genie's usually joking tone turns a touch more serious. At least for a moment. "You never said a word about your father. I've got to let the caterer know! Will he be having the chicken or the sea bass?"

"He's not coming to the wedding," Aladdin sighs. "He died a long time ago…"

Genie winces over his own tactlessness upon hearing this. "Sorry."

"That dagger must be pretty special to you if it's a gift from your father," Sora speaks up earnestly. "I know how you feel. This necklace was a birthday present from my dad years ago," he skims a finger against the silver crown charm, his smile turning a bit warmer as he looks down at it. "I started wearing it all the time after he…"

Sora trails off, his smile finally faltering into sadness. A sort of sadness that Aladdin understands without even needing to hear another word. "Sounds like you were really lucky to have him around, even if it wasn't for that long," he says with a bittersweet smile. "I never got to know my father. Maybe if I did, I'd feel ready for this."

"Aw, Al, are you getting cold feet?" Genie asks, transforming into a pair of bunny slippers on Aladdin's feet.

"No, Genie, it's just that… I've always been a street rat," Aladdin explains, looking out over the vast view of the city stretching before him, the streets he'd wandered aimlessly for as long as he can remember. "Stealing what I need to survive, running from the guards, living my life alone." He manages a meager smile when Abu hops onto his shoulder to offer him some sense of comfort amidst his apprehension. "I'm taking a big step today, into a whole new world I don't know much about. I've never had a father to show me how to raise a family, so what if I'm no good at it?"

"Do you really need a father to be good at something like that?" Roxas asks, trying his best to keep up.

"What is a father anyway?" Xion wonders, just as confused.

"Yeah, I think I've heard that word before," Roxas adds. "But I'm still not sure I understand what it means. Is it some kind of job or something?"

A beat of stark silence passes through the hovel at this, with Aladdin, Genie, Iago, and Abu all sending aptly bewildered glances the pair's way. Sora jolts at this, remembering just how little Roxas and Xion really know about things such as families, thanks to just how restricted their time with the Organization had forced their experiences and knowledge to be. "T-they're kidding!" he quickly intercepts with a forced laugh as he throws his arms over their shoulders. "Always full of jokes, these two! Now's not really the best time for that though; ya know… because of, uh…" he drops his voice down to a whisper, voicing the reminder that Donald would usually be giving him in just about any world they go to. "The order?"

"What order?" Xion asks, still confused.

"...I'll tell you later," Sora whispers back swiftly.

At the same time, Aladdin turns his focus back on the cityscape outside his window. "If my father were here…"

"Al, little buddy," Genie says, his tone sincere as he places a comforting hand on his shoulder. "If your father were here, he'd be as proud of you as I am."

"Thanks, Genie," Aladdin's grin turns a touch warmer as he embraces his longtime friend, only to be rather rudely interrupted.

"Uh, yeah, I hate to break up such a touching moment," Iago remarks apathetically. "But maybe we oughta put the breaks on this mush and the gas on getting to that wedding!"

The parrot is abruptly silenced as Genie shoves a party favor into his beak and a party hat onto his head. "The undersized chicken does have a point," he notes, taking on the guise of a tailor. "This party can't kick off without you, Al, so let's get ya dressed for the occasion!"

With this, Genie transforms Aladdin's relatively simple attire into a set of regal royal robes, perfectly befitting the groom of such an opulent and upscale wedding. Carpet pulls up, hovering right over the edge of the nearby balcony to offer the group a ride to the palace. Aladdin hops on first, with Abu clamoring into his shoulder as he encourages the remaining trio to join them. "You guys coming?" he asks, extending a hand out.

"Yeah!" Sora readily agrees.

"Um, Sora?" Roxas interjects plaintively. "What about the K-"

Before he can even finish the word, Sora eagerly pulls both him and Xion onto the magic carpet. As unused to taking flight in such an unorthodox way, they both cling onto Sora for dear life when Aladdin pushes Carpet into motion. The group speeds away from the hovel, gliding clear through the air above the city far below them. Genie and Iago trail right behind them as they fly over the palace walls, passing over the dense crowds of guests gathered both in and around it. Including another group that's traveled far across the desert, not to catch a glimpse of the royal wedding, but for a set of nefarious purposes all their own.

---

The palace stables are far more occupied than usual for the special occasion at hand, with dozens of beasts of burden filling the stalls and the spaces between. The last few rounds of animals trudge into the building as the wedding pavilion fills up to capacity, and among them, a man clad in a concealing blue cloak enters, leading a horde of basket-toting camels in his wake. However, instead of wedding presents, these baskets are filled with something that certainly had to be smuggled into the city secretly: thieves-39 of them at that.

One of those thieves grows impatient with their elongated mission, to the point that he takes the soonest opportunity to quite literally claw his way out of the basket he came in. Fierce irritation is clear on his face as he marches over to the leader of the group, the man in blue.

"Why do you walk in the open while I suffocate like an animal?" he asks crossly, holding up his weapon, the set of golden claws strapped onto his knuckles.

The man in blue rebuffs his colleague's temper as evenly as ever. "Someone has to keep a cool head, Sa'luk."

"Someone will have no head if this is another wild goose chase," Sa'luk hisses, brandishing his golden claws threateningly.

"The Oracle is the real thing," the man in blue assures. He looks out past the stables, toward the nearby pavilion where the wedding is soon set to begin. And where the prize the Forty Thieves have been endlessly searching for is rumored to await. "This time, I'm sure."

---

"So… what's this whole wedding thing actually about?" Roxas asks, a question that catches Sora completely off guard. They've managed to find a decent spot among the party guests packing the pavilion, all of whom are eagerly, if not a bit impatiently waiting for the long-awaited ceremony to finally begin.

"You're joking, right?" Sora asks with a small chuckle. But his levity is largely lost on Roxas and Xion alike as they simply offer him a set of curious stares instead.

"Genie said it was some kind of party," Xion notes with a small, inquisitive smile. "I think Axel mentioned parties to us before, but we never got to go to one. What are they like?"

"What, does the Organization must have a strict 'no fun allowed' policy?" Sora deadpans before setting out to explain. "A wedding is a party-and a really special one at that. It's when people who really care about each other make a vow to spend the rest of their lives together. Everybody gets together in a place like this and they dance and have cake and celebrate for hours; it's a ton of fun!"

"Sounds like it," Xion agrees with a warm grin. "Oh! I just had an idea! Roxas, since you, me, and Axel are best friends and we can finally be together again now, maybe we should have a wedding!"

"...Huh?" Sora blinks, bewildered upon hearing this. Only to be even more bewildered when Roxas happily agrees.

"Yeah!" he nods with a smile to match Xion's. "Let's do it! We can ask Axel about it when we get back." Despite Xion's shared excitement over such a plan, both of them are brought down into slight confusion upon hearing the bout of laughter Sora is all but powerless to hold back over it. "What's so funny?" Roxas asks, raising an eyebrow.

"I… don't think you guys really understand who a wedding is supposed to be for..." Sora replies, still chuckling. "Maybe getting the chance to watch one for yourselves will help clear things up a bit."

Only a moment or two later, a loud trumpet blares throughout the hall, calling the crowd of guests to order as the wedding procession properly begins. All eyes are on the far end of the room as the bridesmaids trail in first, scattering fragrant flower petals across the aisle after them. Following them is Jasmine's father, the Sultan of Agrabah himself, seated atop his royal palanquin as a group of guards carries him in. The surrounding guests bow in respect for the beloved ruler, including Aladdin, even as his soon to be father-in-law hops off his throne to join him up at the podium.

"Don't be so solemn, my boy," the Sultan whispers with a smile, nudging Aladdin with his elbow. "This is a happy day."

Despite his lingering nerves from earlier, Aladdin does ease up a bit at this. But the last of those nerves finally fades away completely when he turns back to the other end of the pavilion, only to get his first glimpse of perhaps the most beautiful sight he's ever seen. His bride.

Sure enough, Jasmine is absolutely radiant in her flowing white gown, her long black hair loose and her long veil trailing over the length of it. Even from a distance, she offers Aladdin a loving smile as she begins to make her way down the aisle, neither of them taking their eyes off each other the entire time. Jasmine briefly stops to exchange a warm embrace with her father, and with that, the Sultan gives her away to Aladdin so they can approach the altar hand-in-hand.

"Well, here we are," Aladdin says, smiling at his bride as they reach the podium.

"Together forever," Jasmine replies just as contentedly.

The pair is more than ready to exchange the vows that will finally wed them, vows they've been waiting to deliver for what feels like a lifetime. Yet before either of them can even get another word out, the very ground the pavilion rests upon suddenly begins to tremble. It's subtle at first, but it isn't long before everyone present can feel it, a strange, unnatural sort of rumbling that only seems to grow more intense with each passing moment.

"Huh, I thought the earth wasn't supposed to move until the honeymoon…" Genie frowns from his spot within the crowd.

"A-are earthquakes supposed to happen at weddings?" Xion asks, suddenly concerned.

"No, they're not," Sora tenses up, glancing around for the potential cause of such shaking. "Something's wrong."

"You can say that again," Roxas grabs both Sora and Xion by the arm, turning them both around to face what he's already seen. "Look!"

The source of the rattling earth quickly becomes clear as a handful of elephants come into view, thundering straight toward the packed wedding pavilion. Frightened screams erupt from the guests as the enraged pachyderms crash into the external pillars, scattering an initial wave of dangerous debris in their wake. A piece of the ceiling almost falls on the altar, though fortunately Aladdin has the wits about him to push both himself and Jasmine out of harm's way just in time. At the same time, Genie zooms through the hall to pull Abu and Carpet out of danger, while Sora, Roxas, and Xion are the first to notice that the stampeding elephants aren't the only threats at hand here.

"Monsters!" someone in the crowd wails in horror. And indeed, a cluster of all-too familiar creatures has found their way into the pavilion, and they don't hesitate to harass the already frantic masses as they try to flee for their lives.

"Heartless?!" Xion gasps, alarmed. "What are they doing here?"

"If there's a Key here, then that means the Organization's gotta be here too," Sora explains, summoning the Kingdom Key. "And that means the Heartless aren't far behind. But I didn't think they'd be rude enough to interrupt a wedding."

"It's not like the Heartless have ever had the best manners," Roxas snarks, calling upon his own Keyblades as Xion does the same.

Without any further hesitation, the trio rushes into the fray to take on the Heartless, while the palace guards hurry to try and reign the wild elephants in. However, it soon becomes apparent that there's a third threat to worry about, as several of the fleeing guests are forced to turn back into the crumbling pavilion by the very perpetrators behind at least half of this attack: a large group of crooks and criminals, armed to the teeth with swords, knives, and countless other deadly weapons. They flood into the hall alongside the Heartless, not working with them, but using the chaos their incidental onslaught causes to their advantage. The thieves easily restrain several of the wedding's wealthy guests right off the bat, gleefully picking their pockets clean all while the Heartless and the elephants continue ravaging the rest of the hall.

"I think we're gonna have a little problem with leaks…" Genie notes as he watches another piece of the ceiling cave in. To alleviate this, he flies up there, sizing himself up to cover as much of the widening hole in the roof as he can, though even that does little to stop the damage from worsening. It also does nothing to keep the thieves from sweeping through the scattered crowd, stripping the innocent, terrified civilians of their valuables while easily evading and attacking the throes of guards trying to stop them.

Amidst their widespread strike, their leader focuses on a singular, much more specific prize. He's taken to the room attached to the pavilion where the presents are being kept, sifting through countless other treasures to find the most precious of them all. "It must be here somewhere…" he notes to himself, taking another glance around. He narrowly manages to dodge a golden plate being flung right at his head, however, courtesy of Iago, who'd volunteered to stand "guard" over the presents.

"Meet your match, Zorro," the parrot threatens, wielding a jeweled candelabra.

"Good birdie," the cloaked man eases as he approaches. "Polly want a little-"

"Say cracker and I'll let you have it in principle!" Iago shouts, taking his first swing. The cloaked man easily stops him, however, prying the treasure out of his feathers before tossing him aside.

"You have a lot of spirit," the thief commends him before continuing his search. "And a lot of mouth."

Back in the hall, the Heartless continue causing just as much of a stir as the thieves and the elephants alike are, a stir that's only starting to slow as Sora, Roxas, and Xion clear them out as quickly as they can. They're not entirely alone in their efforts, however; by now, Aladdin has joined the brawl, wielding a sword dropped by one of the guards to fend off the joint assault.

"Glad to see you've still got it," Aladdin notes to Sora as they briefly wind up back-to-back amidst the ongoing brawl.

"You too," Sora grins, taking another swing out at the Heartless, only for his weapon to collide with one of the thieves' blades instead. Likewise, Aladdin finds himself faced with three more of them, an entire group essentially surrounding the pair to take them down. They work in tandem to push the thieves back the best they can, though they can still spot several more running about the chaotic scene around them. "Who are these guys anyway?" Sora asks over the din of the disaster. Aladdin doesn't have much of an answer to this question, at least until both he and Sora happen to overhear the fearful cries of a pair of besieged guards.

"They fight like demons!"

"Worse than demons! These are the Forty Thieves!"

"Really?" Genie questions from his spot against the ceiling. "I count 39…"

"Forty," Aladdin hisses, setting his sights on the gift room. Or more specifically, the lone, blue-cloaked thief raiding it. "Sora, follow me."

"Right," Sora nods. He does briefly spare a glance over at Roxas and Xion, however, as they continue beating back the Heartless. "Will you guys be ok on your own for a sec?"

"Don't worry," Xion assures, deftly casting an ice spell to obliterate another flock of shadows. "We can handle this."

"As long as you can handle yourself," Roxas shoots Sora a critical glance over his shoulder. One that comes with the unspoken, stern reminder of what had happened upon their initial arrival in the desert.

Even so, Sora brushes his concern off with a flippant grin, gripping his Keyblade a bit tighter as he heads off after Aladdin's lead. "You know I can."

"Do we?" Xion asks Roxas, skeptical.

"...Let's just be ready to rush in to save him anyway," Roxas returns, sighing tiredly as he knocks another Heartless aside. "Knowing Sora, he'll probably need it."

At the same time, Sora and Aladdin press into the present room, just as the final thief finally finds what he's been looking for: a golden scepter topped with a radiant green jewel. "Ah, at last," he grins underneath his face covering, only to be abruptly pulled back by his long cape. The cloak man is thrown to the ground, and wastes no time in glaring up at the pair that's arrived to confront him.

"Can I see your invitation?" Aladdin asks, brandishing the reclaimed scepter with a smirk.

"Stay out of my way, boys," the thief sneers, throwing a fallen treasure their way. It strikes Aladdin hard in the chest, sending him tumbling back into the nearby gift table and instantly setting Sora off in the process.

"Make us!" he shoots back, taking a wide, starting swing with his Keyblade. The thief smoothly evades it, shoving his way past Sora and sending him to the floor with a swift kick in the back along the way. He turns his focus to Aladdin, who still holds the scepter he's after, the scepter he's determined not to leave without.

"Fools," he hisses as he grapples with Aladdin for the treasure. "You don't stand a chance against the King of Thieves."

"When I get up, I'll bow to you!" Aladdin sharply counters, kicking him away. Sora rushes to his side to help him back up, both of them standing strong to continue squaring off against the King of Thieves himself.

"And I thought the Heartless were bad," Sora remarks, fixing the king with a cross glare. "But crashing into someone's wedding just to rob it is an all new low."

"You're outnumbered," Aladdin reminds the king sternly. He still keeps a steady hold on the scepter, which is what the king keeps his focus on far more than either of the pair he's facing. "Ready to give up yet?"

"Hardly," the king jumps back to his feet to reclaim the treasure he came all this way to steal.

This scuffle is all but lost on everyone back in the wedding hall itself. While Roxas and Xion continue mowing down the Heartless, the Forty Thieves are confronted with another form of resistance entirely. Jasmine lands a solid punch to one of the crooks' jaws, enough to knock him out while Carpet stealthily takes two more criminals down. Abu happens to find a fallen sword, and tosses it up at a hanging chandelier, which crashes down into another group of thieves, pinning them to the ground. Meanwhile, Genie continues his efforts to uphold the falling ceiling, only to eventually notice that there's really no ceiling left for him to support.

"...I guess there really is no point to this now," he notes, flying back only to find the open sky above. So instead, he opts to join the fight on the ground, blocking the path of several more thieves as they try to get away with their loot. While the thieves are more than ready to fight back, Genie quickly shows them just how much of a mistake that is. He splits himself into several copies, each of them dual-wielding blades that are more than sharp enough to send the lesser-equipped thieves running. He makes quick work of several more of the crooks with a broad spark of magic, blasting them out of the pavilion entirely and catching the attention of one of the higher-ranking thieves in particular.

"Cassim said nothing about facing the powers of a genie!" Sa'luk exclaims, disgruntled. "Get the others out of here," he orders another nearby thief. "We'll leave the 'king' to his plan…"

As for the king, he's gained the upper hand, successfully snatching the scepter away from Aladdin as he tries to make his escape with it. He doesn't get very far before Sora trips him up by positioning his Keyblade low enough for him to run into it. In the shuffle, Aladdin gets a hold of the scepter once again, still trying to pull it away from the king once and for all. He only accomplishes this, however, as one of the still rampaging elephants suddenly charges into the treasure room, essentially breaking the ongoing fight up entirely. Right before the elephant can ram into them, Sora and Aladdin roll back to the far side of the room, the scepter still in the latter's grasp. And yet, once the elephant has slammed its way out of the pavilion and the dust from the damage it caused has cleared, the pair finds that the King of Thieves has vanished without a trace.

"Huh?" Sora glances around, confused. "Where'd he go?"

"No idea…" Aladdin shakes his head as he glances down at the mysterious scepter the escaped king had tried to steal. Before they can begin trying to make sense of his unknown motives, however, Roxas and Xion enter the ruined room, putting their Keyblades away as they cool down from the preceding battle.

"Well, all of the Heartless are finally gone," Roxas reports.

"And it looks like those thieves are too," Xion adds, looking Sora and Aladdin over. "Are you both ok?"

"Yeah, we're fine," Sora nods, offering the duo a reassuring grin. It quickly fades, however, as he takes a glance around the rest of the crumbling pavilion. "Doesn't really look like the rest of this place is though…"

"Not to worry!" Genie chimes in as he teleports into the room, fully clad in construction worker's attire. "We can rebuild!"

"Oh, yes, please do, Genie!" the Sultan pleads as he arrives, with Jasmine following not too far behind. "We can't have a wedding without a pavilion!"

"Oh!" Jasmine gasps upon spotting a familiar face among the group gathered in the room. "Sora? Is that you?" she asks, walking over to him. "You look so different than you did the last time you were here!"

"Uh… yeah, I guess," Sora winces, rubbing his arm. As noticeable as his recent change in appearance is and without the luxury of the glamor spell to hide it anymore, he knows he should be used to others bringing it up to him by now. Even so, that doesn't make trying to evade any real discussion or explanation of it any easier, though not for a lack of trying on his part. "Um, h-hey, Jasmine! Have you met Roxas and Xion yet?" He catches the pair off guard when he pulls them into the conversation abruptly. "They're good friends of mine."

"Well, then it's a pleasure to meet you both," Jasmine says, offering the pair a cordial grin.

"Yeah, same," Roxas returns with a respectful nod for the princess.

"It's a shame about what happened to your wedding," Xion says earnestly. "We were really looking forward to seeing how it ends."

"Trust me, you weren't the only one," Genie remarks, heaving a heavy sigh of disappointment.

"If only those thieves hadn't shown up," Roxas says, his disdain for the marauding group clear. Disdain that all of the others fully share after the disaster they'd caused and the mess they left behind in its wake.

"What were they after anyway?" Jasmine asks as she joins Aladdin in inspecting the damage done to the room. "The gifts?"

"Not all the gifts," Aladdin shakes his head, holding the scepter out for her to see. "This is what the King of Thieves wanted."

Iago scoffs as he lands on the jeweled tip of the staff. "With all the other great stuff, why go for this thing?"

At that very instant, the scepter suddenly erupts into a bright, white light. The others all flinch away from its radiance, shielding their eyes as it floods the entire room. And with that light, an ethereal voice echoes from the scepter itself as it hovers to float out of Aladdin's grasp.

"Your question is mine to answer!" the voice speaks as an image to accompany it is projected. The image of a regally robed ghostly woman. "The King of Thieves sought my sight to find the ultimate treasure."

Despite how awestruck the others are, Iago immediately pipes up upon hearing what the woman just revealed. "Did someone say treasure?"

"What… is that?" Sora asks, voicing the question on everyone else's minds.

"Uh oh, looks like an Oracle," Genie replies, crossing his arms.

"I see all that has been and all that will be," the aforementioned Oracle explains, all but confirming Genie's theory.

"Uh oh, definitely an Oracle, tells the future, uh oh," he shakes his head before perking up upon turning to Jasmine. "Girlfriend, where were you registered?"

"Ok, so you know all, so tell all," Iago begins, flying up to the Oracle's level. "Where is the treasure? You know, the ultimate one?"

"I am bound by the rule of one," the Oracle rejects him. "One question, one answer."

"But why?" Xion wonders curiously.

"It has been my creed since the dawn of time," the Oracle replies dutifully. "To each who seeks my wisdom, they may ask one question alone. Not a single one more."

"Well, I only want one more," Iago protests persistently. "Where is the ultimate treasure?"

"You already asked your question," the Oracle rebuffs succinctly.

"You mean before? Oh, that wasn't a question! That was, uh… thinking out loud!"

"Very loud," Genie scowls, grabbing the parrot by his tail feathers to bring him back down.

"So… you really know everything?" Roxas asks the Oracle, an idea already forming in his mind.

"There is nothing that is not within my vast sight," the Oracle responds soundly.

"Sora, did you hear that?" Roxas whispers, placing a hand on the other boy's shoulder. "If she knows everything, then she must know a way to stop what Xehanort is doing to your heart."

"Great idea, Roxas!" Xion immediately agrees upon hearing such a plan. "All we have to do is ask her and all of this will be over. You'll finally be free, Sora!"

"Oh, uh, y-yeah," Sora musters a weak, insincere smile at this. In truth, he knows the pair has devised a clever plan, perhaps the very first concrete one to save his heart so far. And yet, that plan still somehow brings him a strange sort of fear he can't quite place. The fear that if they ask such a question, he might not like the answer they're given. "I guess we could do that, but… I, uh… think you guys just used your questions up already."

"What?" Xion frowns. "No we didn-oh my gosh, we did," she gasps, immediately frustrated by their own haste.

"Well even if we did," Roxas sighs, just as disgruntled, yet still insistent at the same time. "You can still ask her for yourself instead. So…?"

Both Roxas and Xion offer Sora a set of expectant, hopeful smiles at this, both of them urging him to take the chance presenting itself to him, the chance to finally save himself once and for all. A chance that Sora realizes he isn't ready to take for himself, not when there's another chance entirely that it might reveal something he's spent months running from, something he's already largely admitted to himself so many times now.

That there's no way to stop what's happening to him. That it's not even worth the time or effort to even try.

Which is why he doesn't ask the question Roxas and Xion clearly want him to. Instead, he remains silent, biting his lip as he turns his attention back over to Aladdin and Jasmine to listen in on their unfolding conversation instead.

"Aladdin, we could learn anything," Jasmine encourages, gently slipping her hands onto his shoulders. "About our lives, our future."

"I know what my future is," Aladdin smiles, taking his fiancé's hands in his. "My future is you. But my past… it's a blank. My mother died when I was just a kid, and I never even knew my father." He pulls his father's dagger out at this, wistful to understand who the man it had once belonged to had really been. "I have no idea where I come from."

"Your question is your choice," the Oracle reminds. "But remember the rule of one. Choose carefully."

"Oh sure, she warns him about the one question thing," Iago deadpans, annoyed.

"I don't think you can help me," Aladdin shakes his head, turning away from the Oracle. It's a sentiment that Sora holds for himself as well, that no answers the Oracle can provide that will do him any good whatsoever. "My past isn't just one question," Aladdin continues solemnly. "It's a million questions."

"Ah, but mere questions about your past can be answered by your father."

"My father?" Aladdin starts, swiftly turning back around. The Oracle responds simply by conjuring up a vision of an older man, one that certainly bears a strong resemblance to Aladdin, who can scarcely believe his eyes when he sees this first glimpse of him. "My father is alive…?"

A stunned gasp ripples through the rest of the group at this incredible revelation, though Jasmine keeps her focus on Aladdin as she stays close to keep him steady. "Aladdin… this is… incredible!"

"Yeah," Sora agrees, taking a step away from Roxas and Xion. And hoping that they forget about the question they want him to ask the Oracle as he does. "If your dad really is alive, that means you can finally meet him like you always wanted to!"

"...I… I don't know," Aladdin admits apprehensively. "I did want to meet him, but… now that I think about it, I'm not so sure. I mean, what kind of man leaves his son? Did he even care?" he sighs, glancing away. "Maybe I don't want to know him…"

"Yes, you do," Jasmine counters gently.

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because I already know him," she smiles, taking his hands once more. "Because I know you. And I know that people like you don't come out of thin air."

Aladdin stays silent for a long moment after this, taking his time to mull the matter over. In the silence that follows, Roxas and Xion decide to make the most of the opportunity, catching Sora off guard as they suddenly push him over toward the Oracle. "Excuse us," Xion addresses her first. "Our friend here has a question he'd like to ask you."

"A very important question," Roxas adds, fixing Sora with an assertive glance.

"You have but to ask and the answer shall be yours," the Oracle offers generously.

Even so, Sora freezes up at this offer, his eyes wide as he soaks in the gap of silence that follows it. His eyes briefly dart around the room, only to realize that all eyes are suddenly on him, from Roxas and Xion's, to the Oracle's, to Genie, Abu, and Iago, and even Aladdin and Jasmine. All of them are clearly curious to hear what question he hopes to have answered. A question that refuses to come out, that he can't let out, not here, not like this.

Perhaps not ever at all.

And so, once again, he doesn't ask it, instead throwing the focus off of himself, a skill he's finding more and more he's becoming just as good at as lying lately. For better or for worse.

"Um… maybe later," Sora says swiftly, pulling back from Roxas and Xion once more. "For now, I think maybe Aladdin deserves to ask his question first. After all, finding his father is way more important than whatever silly question I might have."

"But Sora-" Roxas protests, frustrated that Sora would even say such a thing. Especially when his situation is so very dire, so in need of fixing, and so close to finally having the answers to do exactly that at long last. Answers that, for whatever reason, Sora is refusing to claim even when he so easily could.

And yet, Sora silently cuts him off, his expression severe as he shakes his head, sending both Roxas and Xion the unspoken message that they'll discuss the matter later in private. And at least for now, with both of their own questions already foolishly wasted, they both have no choice but to take things at Sora's pace. However slow that pace might be.

"Are you sure, Sora?" Aladdin asks him regardless. He's out as of loop about whatever Sora's question could possibly be as all of the others, but he still isn't the type to deny his longtime friend such a rare opportunity. Not when he hasn't even decided if it's an opportunity he's ready to take for himself.

"I am," Sora nods, resolute. "And I think Jasmine's right. Wherever your father is or whatever he might be like, you won't regret meeting him. I just know it."

This finally proves to be enough to convince Aladdin of what he needs to do. He offers Sora a small, thankful smile as he approaches the Oracle, who remains dutifully hovering above the others, awaiting whoever might seek her wisdom next.

"Have you chosen your question?" she asks Aladdin knowingly.

"I have," he says, dread and excitement both swelling within him as he prepares to voice it.

"Then ask."

He hesitates, only for a moment, before he takes the chance he never thought he'd get to have. "Where is my father?"

The Oracle turns, pointing toward the vast desert surrounding Agrabah. "Follow the trail of the Forty Thieves," she instructs cryptically. "Your father is trapped within their world."

"The Forty Thieves?" Aladdin asks, aptly alarmed. "Is he hurt? How long has he been their prisoner?"

"I'm sorry," the Oracle apologies. "I can only answer one question."

"That means it's time for you to ask yours," Roxas whispers to Sora impatiently.

And yet, once again, he brushes that question off, wishing that Roxas and Xion would simply drop it and knowing all too well that they won't. "Later," he returns just as softly. "I'll ask later."

Roxas prepares to argue against his hesitance, and yet the window for that question to be posed closes for the time being, as the Oracle disappears back into her scepter, her sought-after wisdom delivered, at least for now. The staff hovers back over to Aladdin, who's still trying to take in the daunting scrap of information he's just received. That his father is not only alive, but he's held captive by the treacherous Forty Thieves, the group that's no doubt been keeping him away from his son for all these years. The group that he deserves to be saved from, no matter what it takes.

"It's up to me," he says, steadying his resolve to do exactly that. "I have to go find him."

"Of course," Jasmine immediately agrees. "Take as long as you need. I'll be right here when you return."

"I'll be back in time for us to try our wedding over again," Aladdin assures, lovingly embracing his future bride. "I promise."

"Don't you worry, Al," Genie confidently proclaims. "Your next wedding is gonna be even bigger, better, and 90% more stampede-proof than the first! Satisfaction guaranteed or your next wedding is on me! Oh, wait… it already is!"

"Thanks, Genie," Aladdin smiles just shy of making his way out of the pavilion. "I'll need to leave soon, while their trail is still fresh."

"We'll go with you!" Sora volunteers as he heads out after him.

"We will?" Roxas asks, crossing his arms.

"But what about that Key you said we need to find?" Xion asks.

"Key?" Aladdin curiously glances back at the trio. "What Key?"

"We're looking for a special Keyblade, sort of like this one," Sora explains, summoning one of the several Keys he still has on hand. "It's actually why we came here, but when we found out you were getting married today, we couldn't pass up seeing that first."

Aladdin lets out a small, warm chuckle at this. "Well, I'm glad you guys came, and I'll be glad to have you along for the ride. If you want, we can try and look for that Key while we're searching for my father too."

"Great," Sora grins as he lets the Key disappear. "We're ready to go when you are."

Aladdin nods before heading off to prepare for the journey ahead. As soon as he's gone, however, Roxas and Xion pull Sora aside, for the sake of a conversation he dreads before it even begins. "What's wrong with you?" Roxas asks him tersely, getting right to the point. "It would have been so easy for you to ask the Oracle how to help save your heart, so why didn't you?"

"I will ask," Sora counters with an exasperated sigh. "I just… didn't think now was a good time to, not when Aladdin was so worried about learning about his father."

"Sora, I'm sure Aladdin wouldn't have minded if you'd asked your question first," Xion notes, frowning. "And if we hadn't accidentally used our questions already, Roxas and I would have been happy to ask for you."

"I can ask a question for myself, you guys," Sora huffs, crossing his arms as he glances away from the pair.

"Then do it," Roxas insists sternly.

"Like I told you, I will… after we help Aladdin find his dad," Sora says, pressing his way past them both.

"But why wait that long?" Xion wonders fretfully. "If the Oracle really does know how to stop what's happening to you, then we should ask her to tell us about it before this gets any worse than it already is."

"Oh, come on, we're only gonna be putting it off for like a day or so," Sora lets out a forced, alleviating laugh at this. "How could it get any worse in such a short amount of time?"

"...Did you seriously just ask that question?" Roxas deadpans, raising a critical eyebrow. "Seriously?"

"Look, I know you're both worried," Sora rebuffs, only briefly glancing back at the pair. "But it's really not as bad as you're making it out to be,"

"We were inside of your heart since this all began, Sora," Xion points out, sharing Roxas's skepticism. "If anyone knows how bad it is, I think it would be us…"

Sora winces upon hearing this, unable to come up with much of an argument to prove them wrong. But if nothing else, at least he can still do what he's gotten every bit as good at as lying lately: stalling. "Ok," he relents as convincingly as he can. "I'll ask the Oracle for help as soon as we get back. I promise."

Despite their shared insistence, both Roxas and Xion have no choice but to concede to these terms, largely since they can't outright force Sora to ask that all-important question. They can't force to save himself as soon as they'd like him to, as much as they might wish they could. "You better keep that promise," Roxas scowls as he begins to walk away. "Or else."

"Or else what?" Sora asks, suddenly worried. Xion can only offer him a small shrug as she continues after Roxas, leaving Sora largely in the dark as he apprehensively trails after them both, still not getting a real answer to such an ominous statement. "Or else what? Roxas? Roxas?!"

---

The group sets out from Agrabah just as the sun sets over the city, swiftly gliding on Carpet across the desert under the cover of night. While the trail of the Forty Thieves is still fresh, it's clear they've traveled quite far in a surprisingly short amount of time, as minutes soon turn into hours, even with Carpet speeding over the sands as swiftly as it possibly can.

"T-these thieves couldn't just live right around the corner, could they?" Iago huffs, exhausted from flapping his wings to keep pace with the others.

"You didn't have to come, you know," Aladdin notes, offering the parrot a wry grin.

"Yeah, you could have stayed back and helped Genie fix up the palace," Xion notes, a suggestion that Iago immediately winges against.

"Ah, no," he rebuffs, turning his beak up as Abu jeers at him. "Me and manual labor have never exactly seen eye-to-eye. And neither have dangerous rescue missions, now that I mention it."

"It doesn't have to be dangerous as long as we get in, find my father, and get out," Aladdin counters, determined to do exactly that.

"You must be getting pretty excited about meeting him for the first time, huh?" Sora asks, smiling.

"...I'm not so sure 'excited' is the word I'd use…" Aladdin mutters before he glances back at Roxas and Xion. "So… based on what you guys said earlier, I'm guessing neither one of you knew your fathers that well either, right?"

"I'm still not sure what a father really is, but… ok, let's go with that?" Roxas shrugs, not seeing Sora face palm in front of him.

"...Uh… ok," Aladdin frowns, still quite bewildered himself. "What about you, Sora? What was your dad like?"

"My dad?" Sora repeats as a warm, nostalgic smile fills his features. "My dad was awesome! He always gave the best advice-and the best hugs. He also told the funniest jokes, though he always said me and my mom were way funnier than he was. He used to take me out on his boat and we'd swim in the ocean and build sandcastles together until sunset and…" he trails off with a small, wistful sigh. His smile fades slightly as he grips his crown necklace, a charm gifted to him by his father at a time when his life had been so much simpler, so much calmer than the constant storm it's turned into now. And as he thinks back on those long-gone days off his innocent youth, Sora can't help but briefly wonder what his father, who he still respects and admires so much even years after his untimely death, might think if he could see just how far his son has fallen now. "And… yeah… it was great..."

A beat of solemn, saddened silence passes after this, until Aladdin voices the question that the others are all largely thinking. "So… what happened to him?"

"He… he went on a fishing trip one day back when I was 8," Sora closes his eyes, fighting back the pain that always trails along with this unpleasant memory. "There was a really bad storm and… he just never came back."

Despite still lacking the proper context as to what a father really is, both Roxas and Xion can tell that Sora's was clearly important to him, which is why neither of them hesitate to reach out and place comforting hands on his shoulders. He smiles back at them for their support, knowing that in the absence of his family of flesh and blood, they're still just as much of a family to him too now. In both how they'd gotten their starts from him, in how they're connected even now that their hearts are apart. And in how important the ties of friendship between them truly are to them all.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Aladdin says, genuinely sympathetic. "He sounds like he was a really great person to know."

"He was," Sora nods, still smiling softly. "But I'm sure your dad will be just as great, Aladdin."

"I hope so…" Aladdin sighs, still filled with plenty of uncertainties about meeting his father. Meeting the man who had never been for him, the man who had left his life when it had only barely begun. The man who may not have been to blame for his own absence at all, if the Oracle is to be believed.

"Meanwhile I just hope we make it outta this mess we're putting ourselves into alive," Iago scowls plaintiff as Carpet finally reaches the edge of the desert. And with it, the rocky shoreline that surrounds it, as well as the last few straggling horses thundering down it. The final few out of a group of forty, to be exact. "Uh… speaking of messes…" Iago points those horses out to the others.

"There they are!" Aladdin exclaims as Abu excitedly clambers onto his shoulder. He pushes Carpet to go even faster to catch up with the group, only for the rug to come to a grinding halt when it nearly runs into them.

The entire collection of crooks has come to a stop at the edge of the shore, a vast stretch of sea spanning out between them and the nearest stony isle a good distance away. To avoid any unwanted detection, Carpet inches back so that the group can hide themselves away behind a large, nearby rock, giving them a safe spot to reconvene away from their target.

"They've got nowhere to go," Aladdin smirks as he peers over the edge of the rock. "We've got 'em trapped."

"We?" Iago balks incredulously. "They are forty thieves! We are you, three key-slinging kids, a rug, a monkey, and me. Wait, don't count me."

"Don't worry, we weren't," Roxas remarks dryly, rolling his eyes.

"So what's the plan?" Xion asks, joining Aladdin in spying on their foes. "Should we head out and surprise them or see what they're gonna do next?"

"Doesn't look like they're doing much of anything at all to me…" Sora notes with a suspicious frown. "Aside from just standing there, I guess…"

"Wait," Aladdin interjects when he spots a familiar figure ride up to the front of the crowd. His eyes narrow at the sight of the King of Thieves, recalling his and Sora's earlier scuffle with him all too well.

The king pulls his steed to a stop just shy of the start of the waves, holding a hand out as he looks out upon the raging seas. "Open sesame!" he calls, his voice boldly echoing over the water. The sea reacts to this command instantly, the waves near the distant island intensifying as the earth begins to shake in turn. Aladdin and the others watch, mystified as the side of the mountain splits itself open, before doing the very same to the sea surrounding it. In an instant, the waters part to give way to a stretch of dry land, leading right to a wide gap in the cliff face beyond it. That gap is what the King of Thieves leads his men toward, pushing their horses into action as they charge through the split sea to get to whatever awaits on the other side of it. And they're not the only ones to make such a daring charge ahead either.

"Let's move!" Aladdin orders, hoping back onto Carpet as Sora, Roxas, and Xion swiftly do the same. However, almost as soon as they make it out over the open water, the sea begins to crash back down behind them, the standing walls of water collapsing in the wake of the Forty Thieves. The group holds on tight to Carpet, with Iago wailing in fear as he grips Abu's tail like a vice through the frantic race to the mountain. By some miracle, they manage to make it through the opening just in time before it slams shut behind them, crashing into a rock (and into each other) just shy of making it inside.

As dazed as they all are by their rough landing, they're quick to recover upon seeing what awaits them inside the mountain itself. A city in and of itself, largely forgotten by time, exists within the cavernous space, grand and elegant every bit as it is ancient and ruined. It's scale alone is daunting as the group stares at it, absolutely awestruck by their unbelievable find.

"This is their hideout?" Sora asks, amazed.

"It's incredible!" Aladdin professes, just as captivated.

"Yeah, sure it is," Iago deadpans as he flies in. "Remind me to send a postcard back to the palace. Now can we get this over with already?"

Aladdin nods, leading the way as they press further ahead into the cavern. They take care to be as quiet as possible, as any of the Forty Thieves could certainly be lying in wait within the city's many nooks and crannies. As on edge as they all are, just about each one of them tenses up when they catch onto the sound of a conversation in the distance. They find they have the high ground above a meeting of the entire collection of thieves at the heart of their hideout, one that doesn't seem to be going well from the initial sound of it.

"We could have had all the loot from the wedding," a tall, muscular, undeniably intimidating thief rants to the others. "But we followed the king's plan. And what do we have to show for our troubles? Nothing!"

A handful of the surrounding thieves shout their agreement, while plenty more are just eager to see the usual tense confrontation unfold between their leader and their second in command.

"This oughta be good!"

"It always is."

"Sa'luk is truly ticked this time!"

Sa'luk steps forward, brandishing his golden claws as he viciously glares at the man across from him. "I'm starting to get impatient with all of these dead ends. Your time draws to a close, Cassim."

"Cassim?" Aladdin whispers, leaning forward to get a better look at the man. With his back turned to him, he can't make out much, save for his lean, sturdy figure and slick dark hair. And even from that initial glance, Aladdin can't help but think that this man looks so much like the brief vision the Oracle had shown him earlier, the very person they've come all this way to find. "My father…"

"If you're talking about spilling my blood," Cassim smirks defiantly, crossing his arms as he sizes Sa'luk up. "Well, I just don't see that happening."

"Then let me open your eyes!" Sa'luk seethes, raising his claws for an attack. And yet, it never lands on Cassim as the confrontation is suddenly erupted. As Aladdin leaps in to save his father just in the nick of time.

"Aladdin!" Sora calls, wasting no time in rushing out into the open. Roxas and Xion readily follow, all three of them summoning their Keyblades, especially as they're met with an immediate line of resistance by several of the thieves, who are more than ready to fend off any "invaders" on their turf.

At the same time, Aladdin manages to successfully pin Sa'luk to the ground, keeping his claws subdued despite the larger man struggling against him. "Run! I've got him!" he shouts back at his father, who simply regards him with a look of apt confusion. "I'm Aladdin!" he decides to explain as swiftly and simply as he can. "You're my father!"

Cassim gasps upon hearing this, and likewise, a ripple of bewildered whispers begins making its way through the crowd of spectating thieves. At the same time, Sa'luk finally manages to push Aladdin off of him, and as he falls to the side, a sheathed dagger slips out of his belt, one that Cassim immediately recognizes as it lands on the ground at his feet.

"I don't know about your father, boy," Sa'luk hisses, gripping Aladdin by the front of his shirt. "But I'll send you to meet your other ancestors!"

He raises his claws to land a deadly strike, only for Cassim to interject, firmly grabbing the other thief's wrists. "Let him go," he orders, his expression largely overwhelmed as he takes another look at the dagger. "The boy… is my son."

The other thieves draw in a collective gasp at this, and their shock allows Sora, Roxas, and Xion to slip past them to help Aladdin to his feet. They all watch as Cassim raises the dagger into the air, his expression and tone like both bittersweet as he explains its history. "I gave this dagger to my wife years ago. I told her to give it to our newborn son… Aladdin."

While Aladdin offers his father a soft, sincere smile of greeting, another wave of surprise washes its way through the surrounding thieves at such stunning news.

"Impossible…"

"Is it really true?"

"It must be. The boy is the son of the King of Thieves."

Aladdin starts upon hearing this, exchanging a baffled glance with Sora, Roxas, and Xion. "You're the King of Thieves?" he asks, bewildered as he looks back to his father again.

Cassim merely grins as he tosses the dagger back over to his son. "Like it or not, boy, we're blood," he says, clearly proud of that fact. As well as his less than savory title. "Look at you," his smile widens as he grips Aladdin by the shoulders. "I thought I'd never see you again. Has it really been so long?"

"Blood or mud, the boy is still an intruder, and so are his little friends here," Sa'luk sneers as he steps between the father and son. "And we have rules about intruders. They have found our secret lair. They know too much. Which means… they must all die!"

The other thieves voice their resentful approval, while two of them happen to find Iago, Abu, and Carpet, grabbing them to keep them from escaping. As cornered as they all are on all sides, Sora, Roxas, and Xion maintain their holds on their Keyblades, ready to defend themselves and Aladdin at a moment's notice.

"Go ahead and try it," Roxas hisses at several of the knife-wielding thieves closing in.

"Yeah! We can take you!" Sora challenges just as brazenly.

"Um… did you two forget there's forty of them?" Xion reminds, her voice soft and somewhat anxious.

"C-come on, can't we work this out?" Iago pipes up, poking his beak out from the secure grip of the thief holding him. He looks to Cassim specifically, who stands on the outskirts of the group, his expression largely passive as he watches his cohorts threaten the others' lives. "He's your son! And I'm his friend! Cast a vote for mercy here!"

"Yes, Cassim," Sa'luk smirks back at the king. "Mercy would be so like you. Soft and weak."

Cassim fixes his second in command with a bitter scowl, especially as he overhears several whispers among his fellow thieves, each of them largely agreeing with Sa'luk's violent sentiments. But as he meets his son's desperate glance, he comes up with a timely idea, one that could potentially solve two of his problems at once.

"Kill them," he surprisingly relents, his tone and expression both apathetic. Aladdin doesn't even have time to make sense of his father's seemingly cruel call as the thieves let out a rowdy, bloodthirsty cheer, swinging several of their swords forward. While Sora, Roxas, and Xion manage to block most of their blows, Aladdin is caught off guard as Sa'luk grabs him, raising his golden claws high for a violent slice. At least until Cassim interjects to follow through on his plan. "Or… they could face… the Challenge."

While Aladdin, Sora, Roxas, and Xion are all completely out of the loop as to what this 'Challenge' might be, the thieves are quick to voice their support of it. Even Sa'luk grins at the thought as he pulls back from the group, just a bit. "Then it's decided," Cassim proclaims, clapping a hand onto Aladdin's shoulder. "My son and his friends shall face the Challenge!"

"And I shall be the one to challenge them…" Sa'luk insists, brandishing his shining claws with a malicious grin.

At the same time, the others exchange an uneasy glance, none of them quite sure of what they're about to face. Even so, Sora is the one to voice the question they all have in mind. "What kind of 'Challenge' are we talking about here?"

---

The Challenge is seemingly some sort of significant ritual among the Forty Thieves, one that takes place high atop the peak of their mountain hideout. They gather around the edges of a makeshift arena to watch whatever's about to unfold, keeping Iago, Abu, and Carpet restrained while Cassim stands by Aladdin, Sora, Roxas, and Xion, briefing them for the apparent battle ahead.

"What's going on, Dad?" Aladdin asks his father nonetheless, eyeing his father suspiciously.

"Oh, the Challenge is simple enough," Cassim explains coolly. "Only one man survives. But you're my son, and you have backup," he offers a knowing smile to Sora, Roxas, and Xion. "So Sa'luk won't be that man."

"Isn't one against four a little… unfair though?" Xion asks, raising a wary eyebrow.

"Against a brute like Sa'luk?" Cassim scoffs. "Trust me, it's fair. Now," he nudges the four of them forward a bit. "Knock 'em dead, kids. Seriously."

There's no further deliberation before the brawl begins. As soon as one of the thieves lowers his sword, the Challenge is underway, Aladdin armed with his dagger, Sora, Roxas, and Xion with their Keyblades, and Sa'luk with only his golden claws. Despite that, he makes the first strike, taking a broad, violent swing at Aladdin first. He has the wits about him to dodge out of its path while Sora deflects it away from him with the edge of the Kingdom Key. Roxas attempts to go on the offensive, lashing both of his weapons out in a strike that doesn't end up landing as Sa'luk anticipates it and shoves him aside, sending him crashing hard into Xion. He prepares to take another swipe at Sora, only for Aladdin to knock the burly thief off his feet with a low kick to his ankles. In the short seconds he's downed for, the others quickly regroup to plot out their next move.

"We're not actually gonna kill this guy, are we?" Sora asks, unnerved by such an unsavory thought.

Aladdin takes pause at this, sparing a brief glance back at his father. Cassim only offers him a small, terse nod, actively encouraging him to not only go through with the murderous act, but to take pride in it, in taking another man's life. He'd already had his reservations and doubts about his father's character before, from the moment he'd discovered Cassim hadn't been captured by the Forty Thieves, but is their king instead. And now, when faced with the horrid deed his father clearly wants him to commit, he can't help but doubt him even more. "Not if we can help it," Aladdin finally answers, steadying himself as Sa'luk reenters the fray.

He lunges at the group, his claws catching onto the side of Xion's Keyblade as she moves to block his strike first. With his formidable strength, however, he manages to push her next attack away, still targeting Aladdin first above all the others. The two take several somewhat uncalculated swings at each other before one of Sa'luk's finally lands, the tips of his claws catching Aladdin's upper arm, leaving a series of long, bleeding cuts in their wake.

Unbeknownst to him, on the outskirts of the crowd, Cassim draws in an anxious gasp upon seeing his son land such a substantial blow. He tries to press in to get a better view of the brutal battle, only for the other thieves to block his way as they all eagerly do the same, just about all of them cheering their wholehearted support for Sa'luk.

Amidst this, Roxas and Sora rush in together to land a simultaneous strike, while Xion hangs back to do what she can to help heal Aladdin's newfound wounds. Together, the boys do manage to push Sa'luk back, but only briefly. He retaliates by lashing out at Roxas first, though Sora rushes to block him, not with his Keyblade, but with his own claws instead. Sa'luk is genuinely caught off guard when a natural set of claws swipes out at him, nearly catching his mostly bare chest. He's quick to shake his surprise away though, raising his claws to strike back only for golden claws to clash against the edge of Aladdin's dagger instead.

Infuriated by the boy's persistence, Sa'luk lets out a furious shout, taking a vicious swing with his bare hand. His fist connects painfully with Aladdin's jaw, but when Sora, Roxas, and Xion rush in to help him back up, Sa'luk brutally shoves each of them to the side. By now, the battle's dragged on to the edge of the cliff, something that the thief takes advantage of as he hoists Aladdin high into the air. And, without any shred of mercy or hesitation, he tosses him right over its steep side.

"No!" Sora, Roxas, and Xion all gasp in mutual horror. Somewhere within the crowds of cheering thieves, another voice echoes their shock over watching Aladdin be thrown to his supposed doom. And that voice is Cassim's.

Unfortunately, the trio doesn't get a chance to try and rush to Aladdin's rescue as several of the thieves grab them to hold them back. Despite their efforts to struggle against them, there's little they can do but watch as Sa'luk decides to descend down the cliff face himself, intent on finishing the job if it isn't finished already. A sudden hush falls over the area as everyone listens to the continued clamor of fighting far below them, proof that Aladdin is miraculously still alive, though for how much longer is uncertain. Several breathless moments pass until a panicked shout, one that belongs to Sa'luk echoes over the mountain, one that slowly fades until a distant splash in the surrounding ocean is heard.

And just like that, the Challenge is over.

Someone lowers a rope over the edge of the cliff, and Sora, Roxas, and Xion all let out a sigh of measurable relief when they see Aladdin use it to climb his way back up to the top, without a single sign of Sa'luk in sight. Even so, the thieves don't relinquish their tight hold on any of them, and plenty more surround Aladdin as he tries to regather his bearings.

"Hey, what's the big idea here?!" Iago protests from the cage he and Abu are trapped in. "I thought our side won!"

"Look," Aladdin tries to explain as he takes in the leering looks the thieves are sending his way. "It was an accident. I didn't mean-h-he just fell over the side of the-"

He's succinctly cut off as the thieves suddenly grab him, dragging him through the crowd and back toward the interior of the lair. The others are all pulled along against their will too, from Sora, Roxas, and Xion, to Iago, Abu, and Carpet, none of them able to clearly make out what the clamoring thieves are saying as they force them inside, eventually throwing them down in front of Cassim himself. The King of Thieves regards them with an initially cold air of superiority, his tone just as icy as he looks each of them over.

"You killed Sa'luk. The code of the Forty Thieves is very clear on this point," he pauses, if only for a moment before breaking into a broad, approving smile. "You're all in."

Surprisingly, the thieves erupt into yet another round of excited cheers at this, this time in support of their newest "members". Aladdin, Sora, Roxas, and Xion are all largely lost in the shuffle as the crooks essentially push them around, offering a hearty round of congratulations and jokes about how, with four new additions, they're now technically the "Forty-Three Thieves". Even so, they're more or less quite welcoming to the group, encouraging them to join in on their roguish lifestyle of pillaging and robbing as they please, a lifestyle that none of them have any interest in indulging in. Cassim is at the forefront of this welcome party, clearly happy to see his newly-rediscovered son seemingly deciding to follow in his footsteps. And even happier to know that Sa'luk, the only one of his number to consistently and constantly contest his authority over the other thieves, has been cleanly taken care of once and for all.

Or at least that's what the others all believe. Because somewhere in the sea just outside of the Forty Thieves' lair, a golden-clawed hand bursts up out of the uproarious ocean. And, somewhere on the shore surrounding that sea, a lone figure stands, obscured in shadow as he watches this surprising survivor and starts to form a sinister scheme of his own.

---

"I find my son, and lose my enemy, all in the same night," Cassim remarks as soon as he's out of earshot of the other thieves. With his men finally placated, he's taken Aladdin and the rest of his group aside, delving deeper into the dark caverns that compose the hideout for the sake of a more private conversation. "You did your old man proud, Aladdin," the king grins back at his son, only for Aladdin to return that smile with a disapproving scowl.

"I was just trying to stay alive," he mutters, still far from pleased over what his "proud" father just put him through.

Even so, his frustration is largely lost on Cassim, who simply lets out an amused laugh. "Ha! If you didn't fight, you would have been killed. So says the code of the Forty Thieves."

"Does this code have any rules that don't end in death?" Iago questions.

"It's a strict code," Cassim rebuffs simply. "But there is one thing I added: we never hurt the innocent."

"So, you just steal from them instead?" Roxas asks dryly.

Cassim simply shrugs, unconcerned by his own confusing moral code. "Most value their lives more than their earthly riches. So while we might take those riches from them, we generally let them escape, destitute, but unscathed."

"Wow, how generous of you…" Roxas deadpans, crossing his arms.

"Roxas!" Sora scolds in a whisper. "That's Aladdin's dad; don't be rude!"

"He's also the leader of a bunch of thieves who wanted us to kill someone," Roxas shoots back crossly. "You know, you don't have to be nice to everyone you meet, Sora."

While Sora pouts in protest over this, Xion lets out a small chuckle over their antics. That bout of levity soon comes to an end, however, when Cassim stops in front of a wall covered in ancient, cryptic carvings. He removes the golden pendant pinning his cape, pressing it into an indent in that wall, prompting it to part and reveal the large, hidden room beyond it.

"Even my men don't know about this place," Cassim explains, leading the way into the treasure-laiden chamber. As incredible as the opulent space is (especially for Iago as he discreetly tries making off with some of that loot until Abu stops him), Cassim's focus is clearly elsewhere. "Listen, boy," he says to Aladdin in particular. "There is a treasure, the ultimate treasure. Compared to this, a pharaoh's tomb is a pauper's grave. A sultan's fortune, nothing but lunch money! And I am this close to it!"

"That's tantalizingly close…" Iago notes with an eager grin. Aladdin, on the other hand, is far from impressed as he continues fixing his father with a cross glare, one that Cassim doesn't even seem to regard in the slightest.

"But it's on an island that's never in the same place twice," he continues, letting out a frustrated sigh. "The Vanishing Isle."

"That… would be a problem," Iago recants, equally disappointed.

"So uh… what is this ultimate treasure anyway?" Sora asks curiously.

"The big one," Cassim grins, lifting his torch up to a tapestry hanging from the wall. One that depicts the image of a large, golden hand. "The Hand of Midas."

"The… what?" Sora asks, confused.

At the same time, Aladdin lets out a knowing scoff, not at all captivated by the same flights of fancy his father clearly is. "It's just a myth."

"It's not a myth, boy!" Cassim counters, pressing deeper into the cavern. "It was once right here. Look, there's your proof!" The group reaches an opening out to the ocean surrounding the hideout, and with a little illumination from his torch, the King of Thieves reveals something resting deep on the bottom of the sea bed. A sunken ship, one that's composed entirely of glittering gold. "From stern to stem, every piece of rigging, every peg and board, all of it! Solid gold!"

"Adopt me, Daddy-o!" Iago proclaims, immensely excited by the prospect of such riches.

"So… that hand turns everything into gold?" Xion assumes, largely unsure of why that would be practical. As well as why gold is so highly valued to begin with.

"Indeed," Cassim nods. "Every last thing it touches, including the very ship you see before you."

"Tch, too bad it was sunk by it," Aladdin rolls his eyes, turning away from his father.

"You don't understand," Cassim looks back at his son. "You don't know what it's like to have nothing. To stare up at the palace and know you deserve more. To be called a 'street rat'."

Aladdin stops short at this, letting out a small, tired sigh as he reflects back on what his life had been like before he'd met Jasmine, before he found Genie. When he'd had to steal every last scrap of food he could to survive, when the only home he had was on the streets. When he'd had no one, not even his own father, to stand by his side. "Yes," he replies simply, softly. "I do…"

Despite the sympathetic glances the others all over his way, Cassim remains persistent, his tone still resolute as he follows after his son. "I knew exactly what I wanted for my family: the best," he begins, placing a hand on Aladdin's shoulder. "I couldn't go back empty-handed. But the weeks turned into months and the months turned into years…" He pauses for a moment as he turns away from his son once more, his tone a touch sadder, a touch more remorseful when he continues. "I came back to Agrabah one night, but I couldn't find my wife, or my son… I thought my family was lost forever. At that moment, I would have traded all the gold in the world to get your mother back…"

Upon hearing all this, Aladdin finally eases up, realizing that perhaps, for all those years apart, his father truly had thought of him, that he had missed him and his mother after all. That maybe they could still have a chance at a fresh start here and now, a chance to make up for all of the time they might have lost. "We never wanted gold," he says earnestly as he approaches Cassim. "We wanted you. I wanted a father, I still do." He finally offers him a genuine smile at this, his hope rising that maybe he can still turn the King of Thieves into a man he'd be proud to call his father. "Come to my wedding. This time, you have an invitation."

Sora and Xion both perk up upon hearing Aladdin offer this invitation, both of them glad to see that he's willing to at least give his wayward father a chance. Roxas maintains his suspicions however, still fixing the King of Thieves with a steady scowl that hasn't changed since this conversation began. At the same time, however, Cassim hesitates, shaking his head as he glances away from his son. "Aladdin, I… I just don't know…"

"Dad, we're not going back to Agrabah until morning," Aladdin tells him, still smiling softly. "At least think about it, ok?"

Cassim largely doesn't respond, unable to return that smile as Aladdin takes his leave to find somewhere to turn in for the night. Most of the others follow after him, save for Iago, who decides to linger back with the King of Thieves with his own greedy intentions in mind.

"Aladdin may never understand," Cassim sighs, glancing over at the parrot as he lands on his shoulder. "But it just won't work. I don't belong in his world."

"The Oracle doesn't belong in his world either," Iago notes. And as he does, one of the last few members of the departing group happens to overhear while none of the others do. And so, despite his better judgement, he decides to hide just out of the pair's sight as their intriguing conversation continues. "It belongs in the hands of two enterprising treasure hunters, like you and me."

"The Oracle," Cassim scoffs, waving Iago away. "It's probably just another dead end…"

"It works!" Iago insists. "That's how the kid found you! It knows everything!"

"...Everything?" Cassim perks up, interested.

"And I know where they stashed it," Iago smirks daringly. "Cassim, we're talking about the wedding of your one and only son. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity…"

Cassim takes a moment to mull the parrot's proposition over before finally landing on a steady, scheming grin. "How can I pass it up…?"

"Hey!" The pair's plotting is brought to a swift and startled end as another voice interjects into it. Cassim and Iago turn to the entrance of the room to see the one who'd been discreetly eavesdropping on their plans, none other than Sora himself.

"Aw, geez!" Iago huffs, immediately upset. "The jig is up! We're never getting our hands on that Oracle now. Unless…" He offers Sora a falsely innocent grin. "You didn't happen to overhear any of that, did you?"

"Only all of it," Sora replies, crossing his arms. "Including what you just said about stealing it."

"...Me and my big beak," Iago mutters disdainfully.

"So, I assume you're going to run off and tell my son all about what you've heard, hm?" Cassim asks, his expression and tone both coldly intimidating as he glares Sora's way. And yet, the answer he gets to this question is just about the last one he's expecting.

"No, actually, I…" Sora hesitates, biting his lip as he glances away. He knows he shouldn't be doing this, knows all too well just who wrong everything about what he's about to suggest really is. But as he looks down at his own darkness-covered claws, he knows he really doesn't have much of a choice, not anymore. "I want in," he finally says, trying his best to ignore the anxious pit already forming in his stomach.

While Cassim is largely incredulous upon hearing this, Iago lets out a loud, obnoxious laugh. "Ha! Good one, kid!" he chuckles bawdily as he flaps over to Sora. "For a second there, you nearly had me goin'! Now, quit kidding around and-"

"I'm not kidding," Sora counters firmly before turning back to Cassim. "If you really want to take that Oracle, then I want to help."

"But why, though?" Cassim asks, suspicious. "Certainly, if you have a question for it, my son would gladly let you ask it."

"Uh, that's just it," Sora frowns rubbing his arm. "I actually… don't want to ask it anything."

"Let me see if I understand this," the King of Thieves raises an eyebrow. "The Oracle knows all, could tell you anything you might wish to know… and you don't wish to seek its infinite wisdom on anything?"

"Yeah, that's… pretty much it," Sora shrugs, knowing full well there's more to it than that. Much more. "My friends want me to ask it something, but I…" He trails off, shaking his head despondently. "It's complicated. I-I'd rather not talk about it…"

"Then by all means, don't," Cassim rebuffs apathetically. "Your puzzling motives are neither here nor there to me, boy. But what I do know is that Aladdin seems to trust you, far more than he trusts me at the moment. And if you really are serious about wanting to join in on the heist…"

"Tch, this kid? Please," Iago scoffs flippantly. "He's a complete goody-two-shoes! And even if he wasn't on the straight and narrow, he doesn't have the guts for a job like this."

"Oh yeah?" Sora challenges, eyeing the bird crossly.

"Yeah!" Iago shoots back just as brazenly.

"W-well… if you won't let me help, then I'll tell Aladdin everything!" Sora exclaims, largely without thinking.

"You're bluffing," Cassim calmly remarks. Only to change his tone when he sees Sora turn to head after the direction his son had gone earlier.

"I'm not," he asserts, his expression securely serious.

"...Very well," Cassim concedes a moment or two later. Even so, his manner remains cool and calculated, even despite how baffled Iago is when he lands on his shoulder. "I will… consider your offer. I'd appreciate it if you tried not to say anything in the meantime."

Sora only nods to this request, genuinely promising to do exactly that as he finally sets out to leave. As he does, he suddenly feels a weight resting on his shoulders, an entirely different kind of weight than the one he's gotten so used to bearing lately. And much like the first, it's a weight he can't seem to shake, though he still hopes that he can once the Oracle is out of his reach. When there's no one left to undeniably confirm what he can't bear to face, what he already knows to be true all the same.

That he truly is every bit as much of a lost cause as he already believes himself to be.

---

The entire group is up bright and early the following morning, ready to make the long trip back to Agrabah. Aladdin's already boarded Carpet along with Sora, Roxas, and Xion, and while it's already a cramped ride between the four of them, they still manage to squeeze enough space out for Cassim to fit too.

"Hop on, Dad!" Aladdin encourages as he flies past his father from his spot right outside of the lair.

"Oh, no," Cassim is quick to shake his head. "It's a rug; you sweep dirt under it, you don't fly on it. At least I don't."

"Don't be afraid," Aladdin chuckles playfully, guiding Carpet into a quick loop. While Sora shares in on his levity, Roxas and Xion let out frightened gasps, both of them clinging desperately onto Carpet lest they fly off it completely. "It's fun!"

"I'm not afraid," Cassim rebuffs sternly. "Now, get off that thing before you break your neck!"

"Aw, come on, I trust Carpet with my life!" Aladdin protests, though he still complies with his father all the same as he hops back onto the ground. "But… since you're so worried, I guess we can do things your way."

"Don't worry, Carpet," Sora pats the rug reassuringly. "We'll ride you back."

"Just as long as you don't do any more of those flips…" Roxas huffs, still trying to recover from the last one.

"Meanwhile, we'll take horses," Cassim addresses Aladdin, heading back toward the lair to prepare a pair of steeds. "Horses were good enough for my father, and his father before him, and they were always good enough for me."

"He sounds like a father alright," Aladdin jokes to the others as soon as Cassim is out of earshot. Once he returns with two horses moments later, the group finally sets out, riding away from the sea and back out into the open desert. Aladdin and Cassim use the journey as a much-needed opportunity to catch up on each other's lives, since they've both missed out on so much over the span of so many years apart. This conversation mostly stays between the two of them, while Sora, Roxas, and Xion have a different one of their own as they glide overhead upon Carpet.

"It turns out you were right after all, Sora," Xion notes with a small smile. "Finding Aladdin's father really did take just a day. Which means as soon as we get back to the palace, you can finally ask the Oracle to help you!"

"Oh, uh, y-yeah," Sora lets out a bit of an uncomfortable laugh. "That's, um… definitely what I'm gonna do…" His already fake smile wavers a bit as he glances down at Cassim and Iago, recalling the plan they discussed the previous night, a plan he's still not entirely sure he's a part of yet. Either way, it's a plan he hopes succeeds sooner rather than later, if only to get the Oracle, and whatever unsavory answers she might hold for him, as far away as humanly possible.

"You better," Roxas asserts sternly. "Because if you won't take the easy way, then we're still going to make sure you get some help, even if it has to happen the hard way."

"The hard way?" Sora asks, suddenly anxious. Especially when he figures out exactly what his Nobody means by this. "Wait… y-you don't mean-"

"That's right," Roxas nods, his tone and expression both rigid. "We'll take you back to the others. Whether you want us to or not."

"Really, Sora, you should go back to them anyway," Xion points out much more patiently. "But if the Oracle really can tell us about a way to stop what's happening to you, then you won't have to run and hide from any of your friends anymore! You can finally be with them again without any strings attached or anything else to worry about. Doesn't that sound great?"

"Yeah…" Sora mutters despondently, keeping his sights set on the unchanging sands below them. "Too great to be true…" And by all accounts, far too great to be something he'll ever get to have again. Because as far as he knows, by the next time he gets to see Donald or Goofy or Aqua or Ventus or Riku or Kairi or anyone else he cares about… he might not even be himself anymore at all.

His fretful thoughts are abruptly broken, however, when something suddenly slams into Carpet from below. At the same time, Aladdin and Cassim's horses rear up, startled by the group of shadowy beasts materializing in the open desert right before them.

"Heartless!" Sora, Roxas, and Xion shout all at once. They waste no time hopping off Carpet, drawing their Keyblades as they form a defensive line between the monsters and the others.

"Sora-" Aladdin starts, already pulling out his dagger to help.

"Don't worry," Sora grins, glancing back at him. "We can take of them. You guys take cover!"

"You don't have to tell me twice!" Iago complies, taking flight away from the impending brawl.

"But-"

"Now, now, son," Cassim interrupts Aladdin, already turning his own horse around. "No need to stick our necks out when someone else is willing to do it for us."

Aladdin lets out an annoyed scoff with his father's usual apathy, but even so, he relents when the trio waves him off once more. "We'll catch up with you when we're done here," Xion calls as the duo rides off.

"Between the tree of us-" Sora starts, positioning himself back to back with Roxas.

"That shouldn't take too long," his Nobody finishes with a darling smirk. Much like at the wedding, the trio fights well in tandem with one another, slashing away at the Heartless horde surrounding them. It's a group composed of several varying types and sizes of the creatures, but none that any of them haven't seen or defeated before. As such, it isn't very long before they begin to steadily whittle down their numbers, barely even minding the heat of the blazing desert sun as they do. It does take a bit of time, and good bit of work, but eventually they manage to take the last few straggling creatures out without any major incidents. Yet before they even have a chance to catch a breath from facing that threat, they're suddenly confronted by another one entirely. A threat that scares Sora stiff the moment he so much as hears her voice sounding out from behind him.

"Hello again, my dear, dear, Heartless…"

His Keyblade disappears before it can even hit the sand, his breath caught in his throat as his mind switches the sunbaked desert out for a dark, dingy dungeon. As it replicates the weight of icy cold shackles around his wrists, recreates the feeling of bitter poison plunging through his entire body, reimagines the pain, the fear, the despair he felt through every last awful second of it all. He doesn't turn to face her, can't even try to bring himself to. Which is why Roxas and Xion are quick to do so in his stead.

Neither of them really know her, but Sora's terrified reaction alone is enough to tell them she's a foe, and a significant one at that. Maleficent pays neither of them or their brandished Keyblades much mind, however, nor does she spare Pete a passing glance as he finally, tiredly catches up to her. Instead, she steps forward across the sand, her staff at the ready as she keeps her sights set on Sora and Sora alone.

"My, how you've changed since the last time we met…" Maleficent muses when he finally works up the feeble nerve to glance back at her. "Not that it matters to me. The fading resemblance to the human being you keep trying to pretend you are won't last for much longer anyway…"

"Uh… M-Maleficent?" Pete tries to interject, especially when he gets his first glance at Sora. As surprised as he is by how oddly different the boy looks now, what alarms him even more is just how frightened he clearly seems to be. As if every ounce of brazen bravado he might have once wielded against them both in the past has been all but stripped away from him, leaving him with nothing but unshakable, inescapable fear.

And if Pete's being perfectly honest, that sort of fear isn't something that suits Sora in the slightest.

Even so, Maleficent outright ignores him in favor of pursuing the prize they've come all this way to obtain. "This tireless game of cat-and-mouse we've been playing has finally reached its end, child," she grins twistedly, proudly taking in her target's terror as he takes an unsteady step backward. "It's time for you to become what you truly are. And… it's time for you to submit to the mistress you're meant to serve, once and for!"

She raises her staff, only to be met with the sudden swings of three Keyblades before any malicious magic can pour out of it. Maleficent easily teleports out of the path of such an attack, her satisfied smirk switching into a vicious scowl as she sizes up the pair that's come to stand between her and her "Heartless". "More irksome interlopers…" she seethes coldly. "As if the king's fools weren't bad enough. I have no interest in contending with either of you. I've come for my Heartless, and I will not allow anyone to stand in my way any longer. Now, begone!"

Bursts of dangerous, bright green magic spark from her staff at this, blasts that Roxas and Xion use their Keyblades to deflect. As a rapid brawl begins, Sora remains stationary behind the pair, all but frozen in unbridled dread, something that isn't lost on Pete in particular.

"Come on, kid…" he mutters anxiously, looking between the boy and the battle unfolding between them. "Just run. Get outta here already…"

Of course, he doesn't say this nearly loud enough for Maleficent to hear, much less Sora. Not that Sora would heed such a command anyway, not with as loud as his ears are ringing, with how fast his heart is beating, with how short and sharp his own breathing is. On instinct alone, he tries blocking it all out by covering his face with his hands, his knees buckling as his legs struggle to so much as even hold him steady. He isn't sure how much time passes or what's really going on in front of him; but what he does know is the inevitable. That it won't be long before he falls back into the hands of his enemy, before she forces him to once again become a mindless, raving, rampaging monster. Before he's hopelessly lost to the empty, evil thrawl of her power forever.

But then…

His torrent of terrified thoughts are suddenly broken when he hears a sudden, pained shout from Xion. He uncovers his face just in time to see one of Maleficent's fireballs strike her hard in the side, knocking her to the ground and leaving a substantial burn behind. Startled, Roxas calls for her, forgetting the ongoing fight in favor of rushing to her aid. Instead, however, he ends up taking the brunt of yet another one of Maleficent's vicious attacks as another burst of green magic plows into his stomach, sending him plummeting into the sand alongside Xion. Sora tenses up as he watches Maleficent move in, a twisted smirk on her face as she prepares her deadly magic for a brutal finishing blow.

"It really is incredible that so many want to foolishly fight to protect a lowly beast of the shadows," she sneers haughtily. "But it's a futile effort in the end. His place is within the darkness, and after I dispose of you two weaklings, then I shall be the one to guide him to where he truly belongs!"

As injured as they are, Roxas and Xion are unable to do much but brace themselves for the painful attack Maleficent is about to send their way. Only for the swing of her staff to suddenly be stopped just in the nick of time.

Pete is the one who lets out the loudest gasp of surprise upon seeing what's just happened. Likewise, Roxas and Xion are equally stunned when they glance up to find Sora now standing between them and Maleficent. He's bereft of his Keyblade, using his claws alone to grip the edge of Maleficent's staff to keep it from coming any closer to the pair behind him. Yet he still stands his ground, his teeth bared and his mostly golden eyes livid as he somehow manages to push his foe back, any fear he might have had toward her replaced with sheer, raw fury instead.

"Leave them alone!" he shouts, his voice echoing across the desert sands.

Maleficent recovers from her own palpable shock quickly enough, another icy smirk sliding across her lips as she realizes her prize has surprisingly, conveniently put himself within her reach. "So, my precious Heartless has decided to be disobedient once again," she begins smoothly, sadistically. "Relish this rebellious moment while you can, boy. For these are the last few, fleeting seconds of it you'll ever get to know."

Before Sora even has a chance to react, Maleficent thrusts the tip of her staff out toward him, its glowing green orb touching his exposed chest. The very second it does, an agonized scream escapes him as her twisted magic pours into him, surging through his body at a frightening speed. It has a different feel than the poison before it had, though it's still every bit as painful as it prompts the darkness hidden within his heart to the forefront. His vision blurs, his senses starting to dull as he catches a glimpse of the shadows sweeping up his left arm, his claws sharpening as several of his teeth do the same. Yet all the while, fury continues flooding through him, fury toward the wicked woman standing before him with a cruel, careless smile on her face, the woman who had hurt his friends, who had chained him and poisoned him and enslaved him, who stands on the cusp of forcing him under her sadistic sway permanently. But this time, that fury, that unbridled, unspeakable rage prompts him into action, that rage pushes him forward, that rage empowers him.

And, that rage takes control of his heart and mind far more than even Maleficent could ever hope to.

He lets out something between a pained shout and a powerful roar, his body half consumed in blackened shadows as he wildly slashes his claws out toward her. By some miracle, he manages to shove her staff away, and the shadows neither subside nor progress, instead dividing him cleanly down the middle. Likewise, his mind is just as equally split, half of it frenzied in fear and blind panic, the other fueled by hatred and bloodthirsty vengeance. It all swirls into a truly violent cocktail, one that makes itself known as he continues lashing out, throwing his claws out toward his foe without much rhyme or reason at all. As surprised as she is by his sudden resistance, she blocks his attacks with a timely shield of magic, glaring at the boy as she realizes her work on him is only half done. That he still isn't fully the monster she wants him to be, and still isn't under her command as she needs him to be either.

"Sora!" Roxas and Xion gasp upon seeing the maddened state he's in. They pull themselves to their feet as quickly as they're able, yet still keep their distance as they watch Sora tear into Maleficent's shield relentlessly. Likewise, Pete balks, aptly stunned by what he's seeing, though he still allows himself a strange bit of hope all the same. Hope that maybe, through some odd twist of fate, Sora might end up saving himself after all.

"Even in this state, you possess such immense power," Maleficent muses, genuinely impressed as Sora continues brutally beating against the barrier between them. "But the way you use that strength is so directionless, my poor little pet. Wouldn't you like someone to help you keep that untamed darkness thrashing throughout your heart under control?"

This patronizing appeal isn't lost on either of the contrasting halves of Sora's mind. The more sensible side of it craves any kind of control he can get over the dangerous darkness steadily growing inside of him, though he knows all too well that isn't the kind of control someone like Maleficent can give him. The rest of it, however, only wants one thing and one thing alone: to make his former captor pay for all of the pain she put him through before, to make her feel every ounce of that pain just as palpably. And perhaps, even put an end to the threat she poses to his freedom entirely.

His powers respond to that savage desire as sharp, black shards burst out of the golden sand surrounding him. Maleficent gasps when several of them pierce her shield, shattering it to pieces all around her as several more nearly strike her outright. As distracted as she is by them, she doesn't even notice Sora lunging at her until it's too late. His claws dig into her cloak, ripping through the bottom of it as they slash across her lower legs. She stumbles back with an outraged shout, swinging her staff out toward him just to push him away, though Sora easily rolls out of its path, aiming his claws a bit higher this time to beat the weapon out of her hands entirely.

"Maleficent!" Pete gasps, suddenly concerned for his partner's wellbeing far more than Sora's. Especially as the boy's knifelike claws suddenly slice across the hand she outstretches to reclaim her staff, leaving several deep, bleeding gashes behind.

A certain sort of thrill courses through Sora as he goes in for another attack, realizing he has the upper hand here, for perhaps the first time ever. His claws slam into her arm next, tearing one of her long sleeves to shreds as he slices through her newly-exposed arm in a similar fashion. Maleficent howls in both pain and anger, trying to outright kick him away, and though the heavy blow to his chest lands, Sora still persists all the same, far too manic and elated to stop now. A fanged, excited grin spreads across his face as he calls more black shards into existence, watching with sheer satisfaction their sharp tips heavily graze Maleficent's open back. She wasn't kidding before when she said he has great power, but this is his power to command, and no one else's. Not her's, not Xehanort's, not a single soul's other than his.

And he doesn't care how far he has to go or what he has to do; he intends to prove that to anyone and everyone who tries to tell him otherwise.

Desperate to put an end to this madness, Maleficent reaches for her staff once again, and this time, she does manage to reclaim it. She isn't given a chance to retaliate and restrain her nearly-feral Heartless, however, before he unleashes his heaviest attack against her yet. His magic swells dangerously into a darkened wave, one that throws itself hard against her. She screams as it sends her flying back toward Pete, resulting in a massive upheaval of sand when it ends up painfully slamming her down to the ground. As injured as she clearly is, Pete rushes forward to check on her, and though Sora prepares to run in to finish her off, Roxas and Xion intervene to grab him by both of his wrists just in time.

"Sora! That's enough!" Roxas orders, staring him directly in his eyes. They're both gold, but one of them is nothing more than a pure, empty void of it, a bizarre beacon of light breaking the otherwise immense shadows surrounding it.

"You don't have to go this far!" Xion adds, remembering how Sora had so recently brought her back from the brink of such mindless violence too. Which is why she uses much of the same appeal he'd used on her before to do the same for him. "It's ok! You can stop now, please!"

Sora doesn't respond in words. Instead, he lets out a frustrated hiss as he tears his hands out of their hold, spinning around to confront them instead. Without thinking about who they are or what they're trying to do, he takes a swing at them both, one that's only blocked by Oblivion's edge as Roxas shoves his hand away.

"I said-" Roxas begins, his voice low and fierce enough to match Sora's current vicious behavior. "That's enough!

He swiftly raises Oathkeeper into the air, casting a powerful light spell that Xion is quick to join in on. Its radiance hits Sora hard, eliciting an anguished shriek from him as it works to banish the darkness Maleficent had tried infecting him with. The light chases the shadows away swiftly enough, and as soon as they're gone, Sora collapses to his knees in the sand, left weak and weary from the strength he'd just possessed. The strength he used willingly, that he reveled in unleashing.

The strength he liked nearly losing control of himself to completely.

While Roxas and Xion tend to Sora as he begins to recover, Pete does the same for Maleficent, fretting over the many wounds she's managed to sustain. "Uh, Maleficent?" he begins, anxiously sparing a glance back over at Sora. "Maybe we oughta hit the road? I don't think it'd be a good idea to set that kid or his pals off again so soon…"

"N-nonsense…" Maleficent mutters, breathless and disdainful as she struggles to pick herself up off the ground. "I will not leave this world without my Heartless loyally following after me…" She spares a sharp, hateful glance back at Sora before taking stock of her own palpable injuries, the kind of injuries she intends to very soon have him inflict upon others rather than being on the receiving end of them herself. "Mark my words, boy, I'll make you pay for this grave transgression against your mistress…" she hisses softly, a vow her prey won't hear, but one she intends to make good on either way. "When next we meet, your suffering will be so great that it will strip you of every last shred of humanity you may have left, leaving only the vile creature of darkness you really are behind in its wake. And that, my loathsome little pet, is a promise…"

With this, Maleficent complies with Pete's fretful request, summoning a dark corridor for their momentary retreat. Roxas and Xion are the only ones to notice them leave, but that's hardly their biggest concern as they slowly start to help Sora back onto his feet.

"Are you ok?" Xion asks, looking over him with apt concern.

"Y-yeah," Sora mumbles absently. He keeps a hand pressed against his still-aching head, still getting used to his own thoughts being in full control again instead of the aggressive instincts that had just contradicted them. "As ok as I can be."

"You really need to learn how to control your powers better," Roxas sighs, exhausted. "At least until we find a way to get rid of them for good."

"Heh, you know, Roxas, you kinda remind me of Riku when you say stuff like that," Sora remarks with a bittersweet laugh.

"...Never say that to me again," Roxas scowls, absolutely deadpan.

"Sora! Roxas! Xion!" Their conversation is abruptly interrupted as they hear Aladdin's call from afar. His horse gallops toward them, Carpet and Iago flying right beside him as Cassim trails a bit behind at a more casual pace. "Are you guys alright?" he asks as he pulls up to the trio.

"Um, yeah, we're just fine!" Sora says before Roxas or Xion can say a word about what just really happened. "Sorry for the hold up. The Heartless are gone, which means we can keep going."

"Glad to hear it," Aladdin grins, relieved. "Let's head out then. Jasmine and Genie are waiting for us."

"And so is that Oracle," Xion offers Sora a small smile as she and Roxas prepare to board Carpet once more.

"Don't remind me…" Sora mutters to himself. Because by all accounts, being forced into asking a question with no good answers is every bit as daunting to him as that decisive encounter with Maleficent had been. And yet, he's soon reminded that it's a question he might not have to ask at all.

"You know, boy," Cassim catches his attention, his voice low and discreet as he pulls his horse alongside him. "I happened to catch the tail end of your little… scrap with that witch. An old friend of yours, I'm assuming?"

"Tch, yeah right, not even close," Sora scoffs, disgruntled.

The King of Thieves laughs, amused by this answer. "With the way you were letting her have it, I don't doubt that. I have to admit, I'm… impressed by what I saw of those peculiar powers of yours. They could prove to be an asset in claiming that Oracle yet."

"What are you saying?" Sora asks, eyeing him suspiciously.

"What I'm saying is that I believe you've more than proved your mettle to me," Cassim offers him a broad, proud grin. "Consider yourself an integral part of the plan. Just remember: not another soul, especially not my son, is to know about any of this. Understand?"

"...Yes," Sora answers softly. And as he does, he feels that same weight from last night bear down even heavier upon him, threatening to crush him under his own deception and dishonesty completely. "I understand."

"Perfect," Cassim's smile widens as he pats Sora on the shoulder. "Just think, if we pull this off, boy, then you'll truly earn your place among the Forty Thieves. And all of the treasure that comes with it."

Of course, that's something Sora has no interest in, something he doesn't even want in the slightest. Yet he simply nods, offering Cassim a weak smile as he heads over to climb onto Carpet alongside Roxas and Xion. True to his word, he doesn't say anything to either of them about what Cassim has planned as they begin heading back to Agrabah once more. After all, the last thing he'd want to do is to ruin such a scheme before it can even properly get off the ground. But still, the closer they get to the city, the more dread Sora begins to feel. Because as soon as they touch down back at the palace, he knows either one of two things will happen. Either he'll be forced to ask a question he's desperate not to hear the answer to… or he'll be forced to become a traitorous thief on top of the constant liar he already is.

And at this point, he's not so sure which outcome is really worse.

So, he continues to languish in unspoken indecision as the group presses on ahead through the desert, leaving the place that had just been a makeshift battleground behind. All that remains is the darkened spikes Sora had summoned to use against Maleficent before, their piercing tips jutting several feet out of the sand below. A hand presses against one of those spikes, and the tendrils of waning light etched into it fades away into complete darkness entirely. Even so, the master smiles when he feels the remnant power pulsing through them, reading it as the pleasing sign that it so clearly is.

"You never cease to surprise me, my thirteenth…" he says, still grinning as he glances off in the direction Sora and his friends had gone. "Perhaps... it's time I finally pay you a friendly visit, my thirteenth…"

---

Oohohoh yeah so like I said this chapter set a lot of stuff up for the next one, a lot of stuff that I've been looking forward to writing for a VERY long time. Can't talk about much of it outside from saying it'll probably result in another VERY long chapter :| But hey if you like that sorta thing please don't forget to show your support with REVIEWS! Love ya'll for your support, until next time!