STORY SEVEN: The Time Stones of Iretant
Disclaimer: I don't own 'em and you know it. "Call Me a Princess" is one of the cut songs from Aladdin, I don't own it either.
Story 7 Chapter One: Celeste thinks no one wants her and agrees to help Mirage for a way back to her own time.
To my reviewers: Did I really have Cassim call someone "lad" in the last story?! Eeegad! I did. Oops, sorry. It's been a long week and I didn't really edit that story very well. My apologies. I have a strange vocabulary and sometimes it slips into my stories. Just tell me every time I do something like that, it'll help me to break the habit. Thanks.
Chapter Two: A Celestial Oops
Kalil rolled out of bed. It must have been one o'clock in the morning. His throat was dry and after snapping at Celeste he couldn't sleep. As he wandered into the hallway, he noticed his parents heading to their room.
"Kal, what are you doing up?" Jasmine questioned with concern.
Their son shrugged. "I could ask you the same thing."
"We went for a walk in the city," Aladdin replied, "It was daytime when we left and I guess, we lost track of time. We were discussing some stuff about Celeste."
Mira also came into the hall, rubbing her eyes. "Celeste?" she yawned, "Is something wrong with her?"
"You can't sleep either?" Kal asked his sister who shook her head with annoyance.
Al continued. "Nothing's wrong with Celeste. It's just that she's been here for months and she's no closer to finding her way back to her own time."
Jasmine added, "And we haven't been helping her any. We're all so used to having her here, I think we've all forgotten that she's going to want to go home someday."
"She doesn't want to go back to some stupid home she can't even remember!" Mira suddenly yelled, waking up herself and Genie.
He floated into the hall with a stuffed animal of Figment the Dragon in his arms.(*Note: For those of you who don't know, Figment was the star of the ride "Journey into the Imagination" at Disneyworld. He's purple and wears a yellow sweatshirt as well as a big smile. I don't know if he's still there since I haven't been to Disney World since he was brand new namely, the 80's. I just felt he needed a little cameo since no one ever remembers him*)
Kalil rolled his eyes at his sister. "You can't expect her to stay here forever. Don't be such a baby."
"Hey! You don't want her to leave either so stop calling me a baby!"
For a moment, the two siblings went on with one silly insult after another. At last, Genie became a referee and told them to either cool off or he'd take them out of the game. "You're going to wake Celeste."
"Maybe that's a good idea," the princess stated, "She can tell us what she really wants!"
The others all ran to stop Mira, only she had already knocked on the door and pushed it open. The bed was neatly made and everything in the room had been rearranged to they way it had looked six months ago. The only difference was the chest of clothes that had been bought for specifically for Celeste sat in a corner, abandoned.
The group stood with their jaws reaching the floor. No one knew what to say. All they knew was that Celeste was gone.
*************YAY STARS*****************
Celeste and the cat-like woman were in a feline shaped temple which hovered in an endless sea of stars. The woman sat herself on a stone throne and waited for the teenager to take in her surroundings.
"Where are we? Was this a trap?!" The girl's eyes frantically searched for the nearest exit.
"You want to find the Time Stones, right. The best way to Iretant is through my world. Welcome to Morbia."
The cat's smirk was gone when Celeste glared. "I didn't ask to come to Morbia. You got what you wanted, now let me go where I wanted." Her tone was dark and untrusting.
The Queen of Morbia growled a little, a low sound deep in her throat. "Very well." A place in the black abyss opened like a door way and revealed a world full of everything annoying. Leaky faucets lined the pothole filled streets. The houses were all made of chalkboards being endlessly scratched by fingernails that had no hand attached. The residences were chiefly lawyers, politicians, and party clowns.
"Why is everything so..."
"Irritating?" the cat finished, "Because it's the world of Iretant. Don't you know anything?"
"How will I find the stones?"
"Finding them won't be the problem. It's surviving every aggravating thing the universe has to offer. Make it to the Stones with your sanity in tact and you'll have no problems going back to your own time."
Celeste swallowed hard. She had no where else to go. Her eyes locked on the portal, not wanting to see the wicked grin on the cat woman's face as she went through.
******************************
Iago yawned and scratched his beak lazily. His stomach made a loud growl. He groaned as he realized he was in the throne room. Aladdin, Jasmine, and Genie were running around hastily. Iago shook Abu, muttering, "Hey monkey, I think next time Genie talks us into eating his cooking we should say no."
Abu sat up, feeling ill. "Uh huh," he squeaked.
Al noticed them. "Good you're awake," he said as he re-entered the throne room for the fourth time in two minutes.
Iago groggily replied, "No! Na uh! I know that look. We're all going off on some adventure. Well not today! I had weird dreams all night from that blue idiot's recipe and I'm not going anywhere!"
Abu made a series of noises, which Iago of course understood.
Squinting his eyes in protest, the parrot replied, "No it was not that dream where Thundra and I had three eggs! And you promised never to bring that up again! No, this dream was about Celeste."
"Celeste?" Aladdin questioned, "Wait, what happened this dream?"
Iago flew onto Aladdin's shoulder. "Uh...she was in the garden talking to Mirage. I think she was crying and then they disappeared...Man, my head hurts!"
Jasmine, Kal, Mira, and Genie all entered, hearing the last part of the dream. Counting the number of people, Iago asked, "Where is that kid anyway?" The realization that it hadn't been a dream came to him and he let out a low "Oh."
"Why would Mirage kidnap Celeste?" Genie inquired sitting down to think the matter over, resembling the famous statue of the man pondering.
Iago pointed out, "I didn't say kidnap. Celeste went with Mirage. She gave her something and then they were gone!"
Kalil sighed. He leaned his arms against one of the gold tusks of the elephant throne. His back was hunched over in depression. "It's my fault," he muttered. Aladdin placed a questioning hand on his son's back. "Dad, she was upset last night and came to me, but I yelled at her. If I had just let her talk then..."
"I think she tried to wake me up last night," Mira added.
Genie glanced at Carpet. "Come to think of it, she came to talk to us too."
Jasmine reassured them, "I'm sure it's no one's fault. She was upset and Mirage probably told her something she wanted to hear."
Aladdin pushed his unruly black hair from his forehead. "The question now is how do we get her back?"
*************YAY MORE STARS*****************
Celeste was singing to herself in an attempt to block out every frustrating and painful noise. "Call me a princess, I don't care, call me obsessed with nails and hair..." As she sang, her eyes remained pasted to the road, afraid of seeing something equally annoying as the constant ticking clocks and high pitched voices.
Her shoulder could feel something repeatedly poking at it. Celeste tried to sing louder, hoping whatever was bugging her would go away. "Go ahead, call me royal pain. I'm unimpressed with your distain. Let me repeat one sweet refrain - princesses get their way..."
"Whatcha singin'? Whatcha singin? Huh! Whatcha singin'?" a squeaky voice asked several times as the poking in her shoulder continued.
"Some say that I nag and something about shrill voice..." The creature's endless question was causing Celeste to forget the words. "Other girls study about bothers..." Finally she gave up and faced the creature. "What do you want?"
The small creature had the fuzzy body shaped like that of a crocodile with the hump and neck of a camel. Dragon wings shot straight out of his back. All four of his legs were short, but the front were furry five padded paws. His sweet puppy face and floppy ears were surrounded by a mane that was something between a lion and the collar on a frilled lizard.
Celeste rephrased the question, "What are you?"
"I'm a pet, but my owner didn't want me," he stated pointing to the spiked collar around his neck, "My name is Peeve. So, where ya goin'?! Can I come? Huh huh huh!"
The girl was about to politely tell Peeve no, but she realized that when she was talking to him, she didn't notice all the other irritations. So, she agreed to allow the creature to follow her. "I'm looking for the Time Stones. Do you know where they are?"
"Time stones! Sure I do! Oh...wait, no. I'm thinking of the...no, I know where the time stones are...or maybe those were the time stops. Hmm, I'm going to have to think about this...yeah. Yes!"
"You know where they are?!" Celeste was growing excited. She had quickened her steps to keep up with the pet's constant flying.
"Know where what are?" Peeve glanced up at Celeste innocently and his long pink tongue hung foolishly from his mouth. "Look out for those rocks or you'll trip."
The girl glanced down. A cluster of large stones with jagged edges and pieces of crystal embedded in the points stared up at her. "Peeve, we found them! Thank you!"
She reached down to touch the stones, but the cat woman's dark eyes appeared overhead. The woman came into view and chuckled, "You found them! Good. Now, do you know how to use them?"
Peeve made a frightened noise, something between a dog's whimper and a robin's cry. He yelled, "Oh no! Mirage!" Then, he tried his best to curl up into a shivering ball behind Celeste.
"Mirage?" Celeste repeated as she faced the woman, "Is that your name?" Mirage didn't answer. "Yes, I know how to use the stones. I read about it. You touch them and say a few words. Then you have to hold on tight and keep your mind steady. You can not stop thinking about where you want to go and whom you want to be with no matter if it's past or future."
"Did you memorize that verbatim?" Mirage rolled her eyes, "You know what do; just go."
Taking the trembling Peeve in her hands, Celeste glanced up at Mirage. "Why do you want me to leave so badly? Do I know you? Yes. You were one of the voices I heard...when Abis Mal took me to that oasis. What are you planning?"
Mirage took one of the Time Stones and held it out to the girl. "What do you care? They don't want you anyway. So, do what you want to do."
Celeste set down Peeve and accepted the stone, quietly stating, "I want to go home."
The crystals in the stone glowed. They weren't blinding, but Celeste closed her eyes in order to concentrate. She thought about what she could remember of her little house on the busy street where her aunt and uncle promised to take her to her parents.
She opened her eyes, wanting to see a futuristic living room complete with television and a set of parents who would embrace her. However, she was standing in the throne room in the Palace of Agrabah. It wasn't even morning yet.
The Stone's crystals had turned black, indicating that it was useless now. The teen angrily yelled, "Stupid rock! This isn't where I wanted to be!" She threw the object at the elephant throne and leaned against a column as she felt tears coming.
Genie, Iago, and Abu came rushing in dressed as Batman, Robin, and Nightwing (*Nightwing is the original Robin grown up, for those of you who don't know*).
"Okay! We're ready to battle that Catwoman!" Genie exclaimed. He saw Celeste and said, "Good, we need all the help we can get." He zapped her into a Batgirl costume.
As she removed the cowl, the outfit returned to normal. "Genie, what are you talking about?"
Genie's fake muscles deflated. "Celeste! Hey, everybody!" His and the animal's costumes faded as the others came running.
With concern, Aladdin and Jasmine asked, "Are you okay?"
Celeste tried to hold her head high, but her eyes remained on the floor. "Are you going lock away up now?"
"Woah! Woah! What are you talking about?" Aladdin wanted to know.
"I heard you all talking here in the throne room earlier. I'm sorry you don't trust me, but if you're going to lock me away could you just do it and forget about me," she requested sadly.
Jasmine stepped closer to the teen. "We never said anything like that. We weren't even in this room until after you were gone."
Genie pointed out, "It must have been one of Mirage's tricks. She's one mean kitty!"
Mira came in, not even saying anything as she excitedly ran up to hug her missing friend.
When the princess stepped back she questioned, "Why in the world did you leave?"
Celeste stared with wavering eyes. "You mean, it really was a trick. Uh oh." She remembered what she had done. "I'm sorry, I gave Mirage some of your stuff. I think she's helping with whatever that spell is that needed family blood. I'm so sorry."
"Hey, we'll worry about that later," Aladdin offered, "We're just glad you're safe."
Prince Kalil was running into the room, shouting, "What's going on? I thought we were going to Morbia!" He saw Celeste and skidded across the floor only stopping because he fell over. "You're here! We don't need to rescue you then." He picked himself up and inspected the girl for cuts. "What is that?"
He was pointing to the strange creature which had Stoll-wayed by wrapping itself around her leg. "Where are we? Huh! Huh! Huh! Is this a rich people's place? Do they have big backyard? I like big backyards?! Can I see the big backyard?!"
With slight annoyance and a sheepish shrug, Celeste told Kal, "It's a pet Peeve."
Iago watched the little monster chase his own tail. "Ugh! He can sleep in the monkey's room."
"Sleep sounds like a good idea," Jasmine said, "Everyone get ready for bed."
Peeve was given a little corner of the garden where he couldn't bother anyone. It made the pet so happy that he curled up and went to sleep.
Celeste leaned on the railing balcony railing and watched the pet dream. Mira mimicked Celeste's position and rested her elbows on the railing as well. Kal did the same thing so the two teens sandwiched their friend. Iago sat on his shoulder while Abu was perched on Mira.
The princess gave a smug smile. "I knew you wouldn't leave forever. See Kal, I told you."
"Okay, Mira, I get the idea. You were right. Happy?" he gruffly replied, "But she still is going home someday, so don't get so excited."
Celeste glanced at Aladdin and Jasmine who were exiting to their room. "That reminds me, I want to know how long I'm welcome here," the girl requested, "The original idea was that I stay till I find a way home, but..."
Al shook his head. "Stay for as long as you want. This is your home too, Celeste. Good night."
When they adults were gone, Kal turned to Mira and motioned for her to go away as well. The princess scoffed. "Oh please. Like I'm really going miss hearing your apology. Sorry, big brother, but I'm not moving."
Iago flew off Kal's shoulder and swooped down at Mira's hair, taking a golden comb that her favorite (and only) suitor had given to her. The parrot forced her to chase after him, yelling that Kal owed him one.
The prince opened his mouth to continue what he hadn't even started yet when he noticed Carpet trying to pull the daydreaming Genie from the room. The blue guy hadn't even realized he had been staring at the two teens until Kal gave him a dirty look. Silently apologizing, he zipped into his lamp.
Finally, Kalil looked directly at Celeste and said, "I'm sorry I yelled at you. I was angry about something and I didn't mean to take it out on you."
"Apology accepted, but I don't know why you had to chase everyone out of the room for that," Celeste laughed, "Well, I'm sorry I was so nosy."
"No, you don't have to apologize. I promise I'll tell you what was in that scroll, just not tonight. We can save it for a rainy day...if we ever do have any rainy days in Agrabah." Kalil wished her a good night and started to his room. Pausing, he turned back and tried to make his next question sound indifferent. "By the way, how long do you think you'll want to stay with us?"
"I think I would like to stay..." Celeste thought about the empty house from her memory and the selfish uncle and aunt making empty promises. Then she thought about where she was and everyone's relief when they saw her safe. She offered Kal a smile. "Forever, if I can."
___________________________
WATCH FOR STORY 8: It's a Miracula!
Kal makes a wish, but it's overheard by a being in Agrabah who is on a self-reforming mission.
Poll time: Yay for responses! Right now it's tie.
Disclaimer: I don't own 'em and you know it. "Call Me a Princess" is one of the cut songs from Aladdin, I don't own it either.
Story 7 Chapter One: Celeste thinks no one wants her and agrees to help Mirage for a way back to her own time.
To my reviewers: Did I really have Cassim call someone "lad" in the last story?! Eeegad! I did. Oops, sorry. It's been a long week and I didn't really edit that story very well. My apologies. I have a strange vocabulary and sometimes it slips into my stories. Just tell me every time I do something like that, it'll help me to break the habit. Thanks.
Chapter Two: A Celestial Oops
Kalil rolled out of bed. It must have been one o'clock in the morning. His throat was dry and after snapping at Celeste he couldn't sleep. As he wandered into the hallway, he noticed his parents heading to their room.
"Kal, what are you doing up?" Jasmine questioned with concern.
Their son shrugged. "I could ask you the same thing."
"We went for a walk in the city," Aladdin replied, "It was daytime when we left and I guess, we lost track of time. We were discussing some stuff about Celeste."
Mira also came into the hall, rubbing her eyes. "Celeste?" she yawned, "Is something wrong with her?"
"You can't sleep either?" Kal asked his sister who shook her head with annoyance.
Al continued. "Nothing's wrong with Celeste. It's just that she's been here for months and she's no closer to finding her way back to her own time."
Jasmine added, "And we haven't been helping her any. We're all so used to having her here, I think we've all forgotten that she's going to want to go home someday."
"She doesn't want to go back to some stupid home she can't even remember!" Mira suddenly yelled, waking up herself and Genie.
He floated into the hall with a stuffed animal of Figment the Dragon in his arms.(*Note: For those of you who don't know, Figment was the star of the ride "Journey into the Imagination" at Disneyworld. He's purple and wears a yellow sweatshirt as well as a big smile. I don't know if he's still there since I haven't been to Disney World since he was brand new namely, the 80's. I just felt he needed a little cameo since no one ever remembers him*)
Kalil rolled his eyes at his sister. "You can't expect her to stay here forever. Don't be such a baby."
"Hey! You don't want her to leave either so stop calling me a baby!"
For a moment, the two siblings went on with one silly insult after another. At last, Genie became a referee and told them to either cool off or he'd take them out of the game. "You're going to wake Celeste."
"Maybe that's a good idea," the princess stated, "She can tell us what she really wants!"
The others all ran to stop Mira, only she had already knocked on the door and pushed it open. The bed was neatly made and everything in the room had been rearranged to they way it had looked six months ago. The only difference was the chest of clothes that had been bought for specifically for Celeste sat in a corner, abandoned.
The group stood with their jaws reaching the floor. No one knew what to say. All they knew was that Celeste was gone.
*************YAY STARS*****************
Celeste and the cat-like woman were in a feline shaped temple which hovered in an endless sea of stars. The woman sat herself on a stone throne and waited for the teenager to take in her surroundings.
"Where are we? Was this a trap?!" The girl's eyes frantically searched for the nearest exit.
"You want to find the Time Stones, right. The best way to Iretant is through my world. Welcome to Morbia."
The cat's smirk was gone when Celeste glared. "I didn't ask to come to Morbia. You got what you wanted, now let me go where I wanted." Her tone was dark and untrusting.
The Queen of Morbia growled a little, a low sound deep in her throat. "Very well." A place in the black abyss opened like a door way and revealed a world full of everything annoying. Leaky faucets lined the pothole filled streets. The houses were all made of chalkboards being endlessly scratched by fingernails that had no hand attached. The residences were chiefly lawyers, politicians, and party clowns.
"Why is everything so..."
"Irritating?" the cat finished, "Because it's the world of Iretant. Don't you know anything?"
"How will I find the stones?"
"Finding them won't be the problem. It's surviving every aggravating thing the universe has to offer. Make it to the Stones with your sanity in tact and you'll have no problems going back to your own time."
Celeste swallowed hard. She had no where else to go. Her eyes locked on the portal, not wanting to see the wicked grin on the cat woman's face as she went through.
******************************
Iago yawned and scratched his beak lazily. His stomach made a loud growl. He groaned as he realized he was in the throne room. Aladdin, Jasmine, and Genie were running around hastily. Iago shook Abu, muttering, "Hey monkey, I think next time Genie talks us into eating his cooking we should say no."
Abu sat up, feeling ill. "Uh huh," he squeaked.
Al noticed them. "Good you're awake," he said as he re-entered the throne room for the fourth time in two minutes.
Iago groggily replied, "No! Na uh! I know that look. We're all going off on some adventure. Well not today! I had weird dreams all night from that blue idiot's recipe and I'm not going anywhere!"
Abu made a series of noises, which Iago of course understood.
Squinting his eyes in protest, the parrot replied, "No it was not that dream where Thundra and I had three eggs! And you promised never to bring that up again! No, this dream was about Celeste."
"Celeste?" Aladdin questioned, "Wait, what happened this dream?"
Iago flew onto Aladdin's shoulder. "Uh...she was in the garden talking to Mirage. I think she was crying and then they disappeared...Man, my head hurts!"
Jasmine, Kal, Mira, and Genie all entered, hearing the last part of the dream. Counting the number of people, Iago asked, "Where is that kid anyway?" The realization that it hadn't been a dream came to him and he let out a low "Oh."
"Why would Mirage kidnap Celeste?" Genie inquired sitting down to think the matter over, resembling the famous statue of the man pondering.
Iago pointed out, "I didn't say kidnap. Celeste went with Mirage. She gave her something and then they were gone!"
Kalil sighed. He leaned his arms against one of the gold tusks of the elephant throne. His back was hunched over in depression. "It's my fault," he muttered. Aladdin placed a questioning hand on his son's back. "Dad, she was upset last night and came to me, but I yelled at her. If I had just let her talk then..."
"I think she tried to wake me up last night," Mira added.
Genie glanced at Carpet. "Come to think of it, she came to talk to us too."
Jasmine reassured them, "I'm sure it's no one's fault. She was upset and Mirage probably told her something she wanted to hear."
Aladdin pushed his unruly black hair from his forehead. "The question now is how do we get her back?"
*************YAY MORE STARS*****************
Celeste was singing to herself in an attempt to block out every frustrating and painful noise. "Call me a princess, I don't care, call me obsessed with nails and hair..." As she sang, her eyes remained pasted to the road, afraid of seeing something equally annoying as the constant ticking clocks and high pitched voices.
Her shoulder could feel something repeatedly poking at it. Celeste tried to sing louder, hoping whatever was bugging her would go away. "Go ahead, call me royal pain. I'm unimpressed with your distain. Let me repeat one sweet refrain - princesses get their way..."
"Whatcha singin'? Whatcha singin? Huh! Whatcha singin'?" a squeaky voice asked several times as the poking in her shoulder continued.
"Some say that I nag and something about shrill voice..." The creature's endless question was causing Celeste to forget the words. "Other girls study about bothers..." Finally she gave up and faced the creature. "What do you want?"
The small creature had the fuzzy body shaped like that of a crocodile with the hump and neck of a camel. Dragon wings shot straight out of his back. All four of his legs were short, but the front were furry five padded paws. His sweet puppy face and floppy ears were surrounded by a mane that was something between a lion and the collar on a frilled lizard.
Celeste rephrased the question, "What are you?"
"I'm a pet, but my owner didn't want me," he stated pointing to the spiked collar around his neck, "My name is Peeve. So, where ya goin'?! Can I come? Huh huh huh!"
The girl was about to politely tell Peeve no, but she realized that when she was talking to him, she didn't notice all the other irritations. So, she agreed to allow the creature to follow her. "I'm looking for the Time Stones. Do you know where they are?"
"Time stones! Sure I do! Oh...wait, no. I'm thinking of the...no, I know where the time stones are...or maybe those were the time stops. Hmm, I'm going to have to think about this...yeah. Yes!"
"You know where they are?!" Celeste was growing excited. She had quickened her steps to keep up with the pet's constant flying.
"Know where what are?" Peeve glanced up at Celeste innocently and his long pink tongue hung foolishly from his mouth. "Look out for those rocks or you'll trip."
The girl glanced down. A cluster of large stones with jagged edges and pieces of crystal embedded in the points stared up at her. "Peeve, we found them! Thank you!"
She reached down to touch the stones, but the cat woman's dark eyes appeared overhead. The woman came into view and chuckled, "You found them! Good. Now, do you know how to use them?"
Peeve made a frightened noise, something between a dog's whimper and a robin's cry. He yelled, "Oh no! Mirage!" Then, he tried his best to curl up into a shivering ball behind Celeste.
"Mirage?" Celeste repeated as she faced the woman, "Is that your name?" Mirage didn't answer. "Yes, I know how to use the stones. I read about it. You touch them and say a few words. Then you have to hold on tight and keep your mind steady. You can not stop thinking about where you want to go and whom you want to be with no matter if it's past or future."
"Did you memorize that verbatim?" Mirage rolled her eyes, "You know what do; just go."
Taking the trembling Peeve in her hands, Celeste glanced up at Mirage. "Why do you want me to leave so badly? Do I know you? Yes. You were one of the voices I heard...when Abis Mal took me to that oasis. What are you planning?"
Mirage took one of the Time Stones and held it out to the girl. "What do you care? They don't want you anyway. So, do what you want to do."
Celeste set down Peeve and accepted the stone, quietly stating, "I want to go home."
The crystals in the stone glowed. They weren't blinding, but Celeste closed her eyes in order to concentrate. She thought about what she could remember of her little house on the busy street where her aunt and uncle promised to take her to her parents.
She opened her eyes, wanting to see a futuristic living room complete with television and a set of parents who would embrace her. However, she was standing in the throne room in the Palace of Agrabah. It wasn't even morning yet.
The Stone's crystals had turned black, indicating that it was useless now. The teen angrily yelled, "Stupid rock! This isn't where I wanted to be!" She threw the object at the elephant throne and leaned against a column as she felt tears coming.
Genie, Iago, and Abu came rushing in dressed as Batman, Robin, and Nightwing (*Nightwing is the original Robin grown up, for those of you who don't know*).
"Okay! We're ready to battle that Catwoman!" Genie exclaimed. He saw Celeste and said, "Good, we need all the help we can get." He zapped her into a Batgirl costume.
As she removed the cowl, the outfit returned to normal. "Genie, what are you talking about?"
Genie's fake muscles deflated. "Celeste! Hey, everybody!" His and the animal's costumes faded as the others came running.
With concern, Aladdin and Jasmine asked, "Are you okay?"
Celeste tried to hold her head high, but her eyes remained on the floor. "Are you going lock away up now?"
"Woah! Woah! What are you talking about?" Aladdin wanted to know.
"I heard you all talking here in the throne room earlier. I'm sorry you don't trust me, but if you're going to lock me away could you just do it and forget about me," she requested sadly.
Jasmine stepped closer to the teen. "We never said anything like that. We weren't even in this room until after you were gone."
Genie pointed out, "It must have been one of Mirage's tricks. She's one mean kitty!"
Mira came in, not even saying anything as she excitedly ran up to hug her missing friend.
When the princess stepped back she questioned, "Why in the world did you leave?"
Celeste stared with wavering eyes. "You mean, it really was a trick. Uh oh." She remembered what she had done. "I'm sorry, I gave Mirage some of your stuff. I think she's helping with whatever that spell is that needed family blood. I'm so sorry."
"Hey, we'll worry about that later," Aladdin offered, "We're just glad you're safe."
Prince Kalil was running into the room, shouting, "What's going on? I thought we were going to Morbia!" He saw Celeste and skidded across the floor only stopping because he fell over. "You're here! We don't need to rescue you then." He picked himself up and inspected the girl for cuts. "What is that?"
He was pointing to the strange creature which had Stoll-wayed by wrapping itself around her leg. "Where are we? Huh! Huh! Huh! Is this a rich people's place? Do they have big backyard? I like big backyards?! Can I see the big backyard?!"
With slight annoyance and a sheepish shrug, Celeste told Kal, "It's a pet Peeve."
Iago watched the little monster chase his own tail. "Ugh! He can sleep in the monkey's room."
"Sleep sounds like a good idea," Jasmine said, "Everyone get ready for bed."
Peeve was given a little corner of the garden where he couldn't bother anyone. It made the pet so happy that he curled up and went to sleep.
Celeste leaned on the railing balcony railing and watched the pet dream. Mira mimicked Celeste's position and rested her elbows on the railing as well. Kal did the same thing so the two teens sandwiched their friend. Iago sat on his shoulder while Abu was perched on Mira.
The princess gave a smug smile. "I knew you wouldn't leave forever. See Kal, I told you."
"Okay, Mira, I get the idea. You were right. Happy?" he gruffly replied, "But she still is going home someday, so don't get so excited."
Celeste glanced at Aladdin and Jasmine who were exiting to their room. "That reminds me, I want to know how long I'm welcome here," the girl requested, "The original idea was that I stay till I find a way home, but..."
Al shook his head. "Stay for as long as you want. This is your home too, Celeste. Good night."
When they adults were gone, Kal turned to Mira and motioned for her to go away as well. The princess scoffed. "Oh please. Like I'm really going miss hearing your apology. Sorry, big brother, but I'm not moving."
Iago flew off Kal's shoulder and swooped down at Mira's hair, taking a golden comb that her favorite (and only) suitor had given to her. The parrot forced her to chase after him, yelling that Kal owed him one.
The prince opened his mouth to continue what he hadn't even started yet when he noticed Carpet trying to pull the daydreaming Genie from the room. The blue guy hadn't even realized he had been staring at the two teens until Kal gave him a dirty look. Silently apologizing, he zipped into his lamp.
Finally, Kalil looked directly at Celeste and said, "I'm sorry I yelled at you. I was angry about something and I didn't mean to take it out on you."
"Apology accepted, but I don't know why you had to chase everyone out of the room for that," Celeste laughed, "Well, I'm sorry I was so nosy."
"No, you don't have to apologize. I promise I'll tell you what was in that scroll, just not tonight. We can save it for a rainy day...if we ever do have any rainy days in Agrabah." Kalil wished her a good night and started to his room. Pausing, he turned back and tried to make his next question sound indifferent. "By the way, how long do you think you'll want to stay with us?"
"I think I would like to stay..." Celeste thought about the empty house from her memory and the selfish uncle and aunt making empty promises. Then she thought about where she was and everyone's relief when they saw her safe. She offered Kal a smile. "Forever, if I can."
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WATCH FOR STORY 8: It's a Miracula!
Kal makes a wish, but it's overheard by a being in Agrabah who is on a self-reforming mission.
Poll time: Yay for responses! Right now it's tie.