STORY FOURTEEN: Wonder By Wonder
Disclaimer: I don't own 'em and you know it.
Author's Note: These are the characters you will be unfamiliar with.
Kalil: Aladdin & Jasmine's teenaged son who wouldn't mind some peace in Agrabah, but still can't back down from an adventure.
Almira: Aladdin and Jasmine's daughter who loves clothes and helping her older brother sneak out.
Celeste: Daughter of the famous Sinbad and a tool in Mozenrath's plan to regain his life.
I haven't written anything in a very, VERY long time. Thanks for the reviews and I promise to finish these stories up soon. This is the second to the last one.
Story 13: The Great Sinbad the Sailor - Celeste regains her memory when her father shows up, but at the same time the relationship between Aladdin and his children is strained by his search for Mozenrath's plans.
Prince Kalil was the first to rise as far as he knew. He'd had a wonderful dream where his parents, Mira, and himself were all on an adventure together exactly as they used to do. Genie made jokes the entire time as Aladdin taught his son and daughter how to spot landmarks so they'd never have to stop for directions. His mother would give commentary on everything his dad said, making sure ego didn't overshadow truth. Celeste was there also, but she wasn't just a friend. That part of the dream wass the best. Where in reality she'd be giggling with Mira, in the dream she was holding his hand.
Kal rubbed the crick in his neck as the previous day came back to him. The famous sea captain Sinbad had come to claim Celeste as his daughter. The dream melted away.
Mira stumbled sleepily into Kal's room. The fifteen year old perched onto a cushion beside her brother and wrinkled her nose at the sunlight pouring through the curtains. "I'm so bored with research. Isn't there an easier way to do all this?"
"What do you want? Someone to just give us the answer?" Kal scoffed as he playfully poked her tired form.
"Yes," she replied with a yawn, "Yes, I do. In fact, there's a lot of things that I want."
"Such as?"
"Oh, just different things. I want more sleep and Mozenrath to just make his move so we can get this over with. Most of all, I want Celeste's father to go away so she can stay with us forever." Mira watched her brother through heavy eyelids. His face paled for a moment and his brown eyes wavered. He didn't respond otherwise. Mira added, "Why don't they just have a special library with some all knowing being that can just tell us what to do?"
Kalil awoke at her words. "Library...or a cave," he thought aloud feeling an idea coming on, "Didn't Father always say that the Cave of Wonders is guarded by a giant tiger's head. Maybe he'd know something."
His sister narrowed him eyes at him. "It's better than scrounging through old parchments," she responded, "Mother and Father probably won't like the idea though."
Kal thought about how difficult it had been to talk to his once attentive parents. They were so focused on stopping the threat that they barely paid heed to one another. "They won't even listen to us. We have to do this on our own."
Mira, now fully awake, hopped up. "You go wake up Celeste and I'll get the horses ready."
Kal entered Celeste's room quietly, not sure of why he took such care since he was just about to wake her up anyway. She stirred at the sound of his footsteps. She squinted up at him and groggily muttered, "Am I still asleep?"
"No, you're awake," he laughed.
She sat up slightly and coughed a little as if she couldn't breathe. "Mozenrath was in my head," she muttered.
"It was a nightmare," Kal replied, "C'mon. Mira and I are going to go hunt down some answers in the desert. We think that maybe the Cave o..."
"Don't tell me!" Celeste melodramatically threw her hands over her ears. "What if Mozenrath goes inside my head again? He'll know all of your plans!"
"Celeste, it was a dream," he replied as he moved her hands away from the sides of her face.
"Well, just in case I'm going to stay here," she insisted. When he tried to protest, she laughed. "You know the longer you try to argue the less time you'll have to sneak out of the palace." She tried to smile and told him, "Good luck."
The prince sighed and nodded understanding what she was not saying. "You're leaving, aren't you."
Celeste kept her tone casual. "I think it's best. Besides, I have my memory back and I miss my old life. I need go home, Kal."
He nodded again, but gave no words of goodbye as he left. Mira met him in the corridor. Kal didn't mention Celeste's words to his sister. They crept through the throne room where their parents had fallen asleep atop piles of scrolls. Cassim, who didn't even notice his grandchildren sneaking out, was standing over the two, staring at the mess of papers and rubbing his gray beard. Kal helped his sister out of a balcony and over the palace wall.
As the two mounted their horses and rode out before their absence was realized, their parents woke up. Aladdin was greeted by the sight of his father trying to make sense of the piles of papers. The Sultan filled his father in on all the details of the previous day as the other palace guests entered the room.
Celeste was constantly asking her father about what had happened she was gone. Sinbad would just chuckle at her anxiousness to spend the time with him. Meanwhile, Cassim helped his son and daughter-in-law straighten the throne room.
Genie floated in wearing a frumpy flower print dress, wailing in a feminine impersonation, "The children! Oh, my! The children!"
"What about the children?" Jasmine questioned with concern.
The magic maker transformed back into his old self and calmly responded with, "Oh nothing. Kal and Mira are just missing, that's all!"
For a moment panic crossed the faces of every adult in the room. Celeste jumped up and lied, "Don't worry, they just went to the marketplace to check on a couple of things. They said they'd be back soon."
Iago squinted an eye at the sailor's daughter. "Wait, they went someplace...and they didn't take you with? That's just not normal."
"It is when all I wanted to do was sleep in," she fibbed. Everyone stared at her unbelieving. Before they could question further, she ran out saying, "I better go feed Peeve."
"They grow up fast," the Sinbad sighed as she left, "At least she still wants to be my little girl some of the time. I must admit, I'm not quite ready to give her up altogether."
Aladdin nodded in agreement. "I don't think I even realized how much time has passed. My children are grown up. They don't even need me anymore."
"Oh, I wouldn't say that," Sinbad scoffed, "Everyone needs their parents sometimes. You still spend time with your father don't you?"
"That's us making up for lost time though." Aladdin glanced at his father and added with a laugh, "Plus, it helps to have a good relationship with the former King of Thieves."
"Kalil, we're here, but how exactly are we supposed to summon up this dumb cave?" Mira grumbled. The pair stood out in the desert letting the sand float into their hair.
The prince smirked and produced two halves of a golden scarab. "I finally found something useful in Jafar's old lair," he proudly announced as he placed the two halves together.
They flew a little ways ahead of the two and landed on a dune. It shined and glowed brightly as the sand beneath it rose from a mound into a mountain. The sand fell away and there was the giant blue tiger's head. His eyes focused on them and a growl of a voice questioned who they were.
"Prince Kalil and Princess Almira. We're the children of Aladdin." The young man could not help feeling in awe at the sight of the intimidating cave guardian.
The tiger's head squinted at them. "You may enter," he told them after a long pause.
"No, wait! We need to ask you some questions!" Mira shouted.
The head paused to watch them again while the royal teens tried to think of the best ways to word their problem. "What do you know about a sorcerer named Mozenrath?" Kal finally asked.
The cave growled a little as he thought. Kal felt himself inhale in suspense thinking that the cave would have the first real answer they had received in a long time. The head's answer, at last, came out slowly. "Know this. Only the diamond in the rough can enter."
Kal's hope deflated and was replaced with a confused, "What?"
Celeste had escaped to her room where she had begun to pack her belongings. She wanted to leave as soon as she could convince her father that it was the best plan. As she turned to retrieve a veil that had floated onto the floor, the girl's eyes met with the thin, old, blind man she had seen so many times before.
"You? Why are you here?" she rudely questioned as she stuffed the veil into the sack she was using as a travel bag.
"They are in the wrong place," he told her.
In an pleading tone, meant to be an attempt at an apology, Celeste asked, "Who? Are you trying to tell me that Kal and Mira are in danger?"
The man reached into his gray robe. He handed Celeste a small stone carved with words. Then, he vanished. With a sigh, Celeste glanced at the rough surface of the rock. Her inspection was interrupted by Aladdin's voice.
"Who were you talking to, Celeste?" He saw the full sack behind her and frowned. "Are you going someplace?"
Her heart jumped into her throat. Celeste felt her words spill out of her like an unexpected sneeze. "I think Mira and Kal are in danger. But I don't know exactly where they are."
The sultan's eyes widened. "What? Are you sure you don't have any idea of where they are?"
"They said something about a cave..." That was all Celeste was able to say before Aladdin ran out of her room. She sighed and sat down to write a letter of goodbye explaining that she was going back to her father's ship. Celeste set the stone and note in the throne room, then with her sack of belonging in one hand she exited. She didn't have time to wait for anyone. It was time for her to leave.
Every question Kal and Mira threw at the guardian of the Cave of Wonders was responded with a riddle about the cave's contents or how to enter without being swallowed by the sand.
Mira stuck out her bottom lip in annoyance. "This really is not working."
"Do you have a better idea?" the prince replied with equal annoyance. He looked up at the tiger's head to ask another question yet a presence stopped him. Turning to inspect the dunes surrounding them, Kalil noticed a band of eight marauders waiting on a hill.
"Oh great. More problems," the prince grumbled as he set his sister onto her horse. He did the same and the two tried to ride away from their unexpected attackers.
The villains were quick to catch them, being more skilled riders than the two royals were were more accustomed to carpet flying than horses. The band chased the pair just within sight of a steep ravine. When they moved further away, the Cave of Wonders sunk back into the sand, leavig behind nothing but the two scarab halves.
One of the marauders shouted at Kalil, "Bring it back. We have searched this desert for two months for the treasures of that cave! Now bring it back!"
"What cave?" Kal tried to joke, "Did you mean that tiger head? That's just a mirage. You should really learn to stay out of the heat you know."
Before either teen could react, two of the thieves had jumped off their horses, pulled the pair of royals to the ground, then dragged them to the edge of the ravine. One of them unsheathed a dagger from his sash and swiped it across Kalil's side.
Both struggled, but over the sounds of their yells and insults, they couldn't hear the leader giving them a second chance to bring back the cave. When they did not answer how he would have liked, the marauder nodded to his two men. In another instant, both teenagers were dumped into the ravine.
Mira managed to land on a narrow ledge not far from the top, but Kal almost missed the ledge. His two calloused hands grasped onto the rock directly below the ledge and his feet scrabbled against the side until his sister finally leaned over. She pulled him up and inspected the blood from the cut he had received. There was barely enough room for either of them, but they pushed themselves against the wall, trying to think of nothing but balance.
From the edge the group of villains laughed. "Ready to tell us y..." one of them began to stay, until something flew over his head and knocked him out.
The men all scattered as the sultan of Agrabah swooped down a second time on his flying carpet. Al glanced down into the ravine, watching as his two children struggled to remain on the narrow ledge. "Don't move!" he yelled to them, "I'm coming to get you!"
Kal saw the marauders disappearing from his sight as he squinted in pain. "They're getting away!"
"Father, go after them!" Mira added.
The sultan flew down, Carpet fluttering beneath his feet. When they were level with the ledge he first helped his daughter onto the flying rug, then the two together pulled the wounded son on board.
Laying Kal flat as they swiftly flew home, Alddin anxiously asked, "Where does it hurt?"
Kalil stared at his dad in astonishment. "You just let them leave like that? You never let anyone escape."
Al returned the stare. "Did you think I would have just left you on that ledge?"
Mira gave him a confused expression. "I didn't think you would have noticed us. Didn't you come out there to catch some kind of bad guy?"
"No, I came to get you. I..." Aladdin's jaw dropped as he realized what his daughter was saying. At first, he tried to make excused. "Well, I have been really busy and..." He gave up that plan quickly and let out a loud exhale. Gathering his two children in his arms, he told them, "I'm sorry."
Mira wondered out loud, "Why didn't you ever tell us about Mozenrath? I mean, you've told us about every other monster and villain to ever roam the seven desserts. Why did you leave him out of the stories?"
Aladdin tightened his hold on them slightly. "I was so scared of being a terrible father. Then when Kal was taken....I guess I just wanted to forget that it ever happened."
After another moment of the hug, Kal spoke up. "Um...Father...this is really nice and all, but I'm really in a lot of pain. So, could you just help me out and take us home."
"Oh right!" Aladdin released them, then eyed his son. "I thought you didn't want my help anymore."
"When did I say that?" Kal asked placing his hand at his sid to check for bleeding.
"The day Celeste came to Agrabah, remember."
"I still don't need your help," Kal defended, "It's just...well..." He paused before his voice came out in a whine, "It hurts!"
Back at the palace, Genie was the one to inspect Kal's wound and "tsk" at it. "You play to rough," he scolded. An Egyptian sarcophagus appeared behind the blue spirit. He reached inside and being to unravel the mummy within. The mummy, who was a Genie copy, gasped and blushed as he legs became bare. He grabbed the wrapping from Genie and shut the door on the coffin. The sarcophagus vanished and Genie sighed, "Hmm, I'll have to find some bandages someplace else. Be right back." He flew into his lamp, then came back out with a roll of white gauze.
Mira sat on a step in front of the through. "This was all for nothing. Just another dead end." She glanced around counting heads. Her parents, her grandfather, her brother, Genie, the animals, and Captain Sinbad were all there. "Where's Celeste?"
"I have seen her since earlier this afternoon," Aladdin commented.
Kal muttered as he removed his shirt so Genie could wrap the gauze around his middle, "She's probably packing."
"I'll go find her," Mira volunteered and head towards the bed chambers.
Meanwhile, Jasmine frowned deeply at her son. "Men!" Turning her glare at Aladdin, she added, "I blame you for our son." Then, she looked back at Kal. "If you want Celeste to stay than tell her that. Stop acting like it doesn't matter when it obviously does."
Mira returned in a rush, "She's not in her room and the guards haven't seen her for two hours!"
Iago slapped his wing against his face, "Oh boy. Not again!"
Kal sat up straight in panic, but settle back again from the pain of his injury. "She thinks she's putting us in danger," he explained, "She say Mozenrath is in her head when she dreams."
Cassim spoke up, "Then she's right. She could put all of our plan at risk."
Sinbad, obviously taking the comment as an insult towards his daughter, opened his mouth to shout something, but Aladdin cut in. "No, that's no reason for her to just go off on her own. We can protect her. It's just a matter of being careful of what we say around her."
"But how are we going to find her to tell her that?" Jasmine questioned softly.
Abu suddenly squawked wildly. Everyone turned to see Celeste come inside from the garden. "Is everyone alright?" was her response to their anxious faces.
"We thought you had run away again," Mira answered with a relieved smile.
Celeste couldn't help smiling back as her cheeks grew pink from embarrassment. "I almost did, but I realized that I don't know which way the harbor is." Recovering from the humiliation of her lack of direction, the girl held out a stone to the group. "I think this may be what we were all looking for."
Aladdin took the rock and read this spell carved upon it. "With blood and cherished items three generations long, follow the sound of a female relative's cry, to a time piece of little importance and a liquid to sustain all who heed this dark lullaby. May two heroes shed their blood and may power arise. May the one who resurrects be the one who dies."
"Okay, that officially made absolutely no sense!" Iago complained.
"Genie, do you have any ideas?" Jasmine asked.
He didn't joke with his answer. He was completely solemn. "A spell like that can only be for one thing...giving a new body to someone who has been dead."
Mira beamed at Celeste, then turned to Kal. "See that. If she had left we wouldn't have had that valuable piece of information."
Kal just nodded. Iago watched him look at Celeste and flew over to Cassim's shoulder. "Oh please. Someone resolve the angst! It's making me nauseous." The older man just laughed.
Aladdin, Jasmine, Mira, and Sinbad all sat at the table in order to discuss the spell and try to understand exactly what it meant.
Genie continued to poke at Kal's ribs and the boy winced. Celeste at last approached the pair. She took Kal's shirt from Genie who stuffed his hands into his pockets. As he turned away, trying to seem casual, he said, "I'll just go over to the random area of the room and it has absolutely nothing to do with wanting to leave the two of you alone."
With him gone, Celeste smiled at the prince and held out his shirt to him. "Maybe I should have come along. Lately, you've been getting into worse trouble than I ever have."
Kalil smirked as she held up his shirt in order to help him put it on. "Are you always going to be this nice to me when I come back from a near death experience?"
"Don't push your luck," she told him as she pulled the material carefully over his bandages.
He let out a painful yelp and her eyes widened in concern. When he saw her reaction, they young man let out a louder gasp followed by several more exclamations of "Owe! Ouch!" Giving her a forlorn expression he suggested, "Could you help me over to the table?"
Aladdin was watching the prince's play acting. He chuckled, "That's my son."
Celeste smiled at him with sweetness and understanding. Leaning in close to him, thier faces growing dangerously close as if their lips may meet at any second, Kal held his breath. Suddenly, she poked at his wound and replied, "Do I look like a crutch to you?"
Sinbad nudged Aladdin. "That's my daughter."
WATCH FOR STORY 15: High Adventure
Mozenrath's plan goes into action on the same night that Kal decides to tell Celeste something of importance.
Disclaimer: I don't own 'em and you know it.
Author's Note: These are the characters you will be unfamiliar with.
Kalil: Aladdin & Jasmine's teenaged son who wouldn't mind some peace in Agrabah, but still can't back down from an adventure.
Almira: Aladdin and Jasmine's daughter who loves clothes and helping her older brother sneak out.
Celeste: Daughter of the famous Sinbad and a tool in Mozenrath's plan to regain his life.
I haven't written anything in a very, VERY long time. Thanks for the reviews and I promise to finish these stories up soon. This is the second to the last one.
Story 13: The Great Sinbad the Sailor - Celeste regains her memory when her father shows up, but at the same time the relationship between Aladdin and his children is strained by his search for Mozenrath's plans.
Prince Kalil was the first to rise as far as he knew. He'd had a wonderful dream where his parents, Mira, and himself were all on an adventure together exactly as they used to do. Genie made jokes the entire time as Aladdin taught his son and daughter how to spot landmarks so they'd never have to stop for directions. His mother would give commentary on everything his dad said, making sure ego didn't overshadow truth. Celeste was there also, but she wasn't just a friend. That part of the dream wass the best. Where in reality she'd be giggling with Mira, in the dream she was holding his hand.
Kal rubbed the crick in his neck as the previous day came back to him. The famous sea captain Sinbad had come to claim Celeste as his daughter. The dream melted away.
Mira stumbled sleepily into Kal's room. The fifteen year old perched onto a cushion beside her brother and wrinkled her nose at the sunlight pouring through the curtains. "I'm so bored with research. Isn't there an easier way to do all this?"
"What do you want? Someone to just give us the answer?" Kal scoffed as he playfully poked her tired form.
"Yes," she replied with a yawn, "Yes, I do. In fact, there's a lot of things that I want."
"Such as?"
"Oh, just different things. I want more sleep and Mozenrath to just make his move so we can get this over with. Most of all, I want Celeste's father to go away so she can stay with us forever." Mira watched her brother through heavy eyelids. His face paled for a moment and his brown eyes wavered. He didn't respond otherwise. Mira added, "Why don't they just have a special library with some all knowing being that can just tell us what to do?"
Kalil awoke at her words. "Library...or a cave," he thought aloud feeling an idea coming on, "Didn't Father always say that the Cave of Wonders is guarded by a giant tiger's head. Maybe he'd know something."
His sister narrowed him eyes at him. "It's better than scrounging through old parchments," she responded, "Mother and Father probably won't like the idea though."
Kal thought about how difficult it had been to talk to his once attentive parents. They were so focused on stopping the threat that they barely paid heed to one another. "They won't even listen to us. We have to do this on our own."
Mira, now fully awake, hopped up. "You go wake up Celeste and I'll get the horses ready."
Kal entered Celeste's room quietly, not sure of why he took such care since he was just about to wake her up anyway. She stirred at the sound of his footsteps. She squinted up at him and groggily muttered, "Am I still asleep?"
"No, you're awake," he laughed.
She sat up slightly and coughed a little as if she couldn't breathe. "Mozenrath was in my head," she muttered.
"It was a nightmare," Kal replied, "C'mon. Mira and I are going to go hunt down some answers in the desert. We think that maybe the Cave o..."
"Don't tell me!" Celeste melodramatically threw her hands over her ears. "What if Mozenrath goes inside my head again? He'll know all of your plans!"
"Celeste, it was a dream," he replied as he moved her hands away from the sides of her face.
"Well, just in case I'm going to stay here," she insisted. When he tried to protest, she laughed. "You know the longer you try to argue the less time you'll have to sneak out of the palace." She tried to smile and told him, "Good luck."
The prince sighed and nodded understanding what she was not saying. "You're leaving, aren't you."
Celeste kept her tone casual. "I think it's best. Besides, I have my memory back and I miss my old life. I need go home, Kal."
He nodded again, but gave no words of goodbye as he left. Mira met him in the corridor. Kal didn't mention Celeste's words to his sister. They crept through the throne room where their parents had fallen asleep atop piles of scrolls. Cassim, who didn't even notice his grandchildren sneaking out, was standing over the two, staring at the mess of papers and rubbing his gray beard. Kal helped his sister out of a balcony and over the palace wall.
As the two mounted their horses and rode out before their absence was realized, their parents woke up. Aladdin was greeted by the sight of his father trying to make sense of the piles of papers. The Sultan filled his father in on all the details of the previous day as the other palace guests entered the room.
Celeste was constantly asking her father about what had happened she was gone. Sinbad would just chuckle at her anxiousness to spend the time with him. Meanwhile, Cassim helped his son and daughter-in-law straighten the throne room.
Genie floated in wearing a frumpy flower print dress, wailing in a feminine impersonation, "The children! Oh, my! The children!"
"What about the children?" Jasmine questioned with concern.
The magic maker transformed back into his old self and calmly responded with, "Oh nothing. Kal and Mira are just missing, that's all!"
For a moment panic crossed the faces of every adult in the room. Celeste jumped up and lied, "Don't worry, they just went to the marketplace to check on a couple of things. They said they'd be back soon."
Iago squinted an eye at the sailor's daughter. "Wait, they went someplace...and they didn't take you with? That's just not normal."
"It is when all I wanted to do was sleep in," she fibbed. Everyone stared at her unbelieving. Before they could question further, she ran out saying, "I better go feed Peeve."
"They grow up fast," the Sinbad sighed as she left, "At least she still wants to be my little girl some of the time. I must admit, I'm not quite ready to give her up altogether."
Aladdin nodded in agreement. "I don't think I even realized how much time has passed. My children are grown up. They don't even need me anymore."
"Oh, I wouldn't say that," Sinbad scoffed, "Everyone needs their parents sometimes. You still spend time with your father don't you?"
"That's us making up for lost time though." Aladdin glanced at his father and added with a laugh, "Plus, it helps to have a good relationship with the former King of Thieves."
"Kalil, we're here, but how exactly are we supposed to summon up this dumb cave?" Mira grumbled. The pair stood out in the desert letting the sand float into their hair.
The prince smirked and produced two halves of a golden scarab. "I finally found something useful in Jafar's old lair," he proudly announced as he placed the two halves together.
They flew a little ways ahead of the two and landed on a dune. It shined and glowed brightly as the sand beneath it rose from a mound into a mountain. The sand fell away and there was the giant blue tiger's head. His eyes focused on them and a growl of a voice questioned who they were.
"Prince Kalil and Princess Almira. We're the children of Aladdin." The young man could not help feeling in awe at the sight of the intimidating cave guardian.
The tiger's head squinted at them. "You may enter," he told them after a long pause.
"No, wait! We need to ask you some questions!" Mira shouted.
The head paused to watch them again while the royal teens tried to think of the best ways to word their problem. "What do you know about a sorcerer named Mozenrath?" Kal finally asked.
The cave growled a little as he thought. Kal felt himself inhale in suspense thinking that the cave would have the first real answer they had received in a long time. The head's answer, at last, came out slowly. "Know this. Only the diamond in the rough can enter."
Kal's hope deflated and was replaced with a confused, "What?"
Celeste had escaped to her room where she had begun to pack her belongings. She wanted to leave as soon as she could convince her father that it was the best plan. As she turned to retrieve a veil that had floated onto the floor, the girl's eyes met with the thin, old, blind man she had seen so many times before.
"You? Why are you here?" she rudely questioned as she stuffed the veil into the sack she was using as a travel bag.
"They are in the wrong place," he told her.
In an pleading tone, meant to be an attempt at an apology, Celeste asked, "Who? Are you trying to tell me that Kal and Mira are in danger?"
The man reached into his gray robe. He handed Celeste a small stone carved with words. Then, he vanished. With a sigh, Celeste glanced at the rough surface of the rock. Her inspection was interrupted by Aladdin's voice.
"Who were you talking to, Celeste?" He saw the full sack behind her and frowned. "Are you going someplace?"
Her heart jumped into her throat. Celeste felt her words spill out of her like an unexpected sneeze. "I think Mira and Kal are in danger. But I don't know exactly where they are."
The sultan's eyes widened. "What? Are you sure you don't have any idea of where they are?"
"They said something about a cave..." That was all Celeste was able to say before Aladdin ran out of her room. She sighed and sat down to write a letter of goodbye explaining that she was going back to her father's ship. Celeste set the stone and note in the throne room, then with her sack of belonging in one hand she exited. She didn't have time to wait for anyone. It was time for her to leave.
Every question Kal and Mira threw at the guardian of the Cave of Wonders was responded with a riddle about the cave's contents or how to enter without being swallowed by the sand.
Mira stuck out her bottom lip in annoyance. "This really is not working."
"Do you have a better idea?" the prince replied with equal annoyance. He looked up at the tiger's head to ask another question yet a presence stopped him. Turning to inspect the dunes surrounding them, Kalil noticed a band of eight marauders waiting on a hill.
"Oh great. More problems," the prince grumbled as he set his sister onto her horse. He did the same and the two tried to ride away from their unexpected attackers.
The villains were quick to catch them, being more skilled riders than the two royals were were more accustomed to carpet flying than horses. The band chased the pair just within sight of a steep ravine. When they moved further away, the Cave of Wonders sunk back into the sand, leavig behind nothing but the two scarab halves.
One of the marauders shouted at Kalil, "Bring it back. We have searched this desert for two months for the treasures of that cave! Now bring it back!"
"What cave?" Kal tried to joke, "Did you mean that tiger head? That's just a mirage. You should really learn to stay out of the heat you know."
Before either teen could react, two of the thieves had jumped off their horses, pulled the pair of royals to the ground, then dragged them to the edge of the ravine. One of them unsheathed a dagger from his sash and swiped it across Kalil's side.
Both struggled, but over the sounds of their yells and insults, they couldn't hear the leader giving them a second chance to bring back the cave. When they did not answer how he would have liked, the marauder nodded to his two men. In another instant, both teenagers were dumped into the ravine.
Mira managed to land on a narrow ledge not far from the top, but Kal almost missed the ledge. His two calloused hands grasped onto the rock directly below the ledge and his feet scrabbled against the side until his sister finally leaned over. She pulled him up and inspected the blood from the cut he had received. There was barely enough room for either of them, but they pushed themselves against the wall, trying to think of nothing but balance.
From the edge the group of villains laughed. "Ready to tell us y..." one of them began to stay, until something flew over his head and knocked him out.
The men all scattered as the sultan of Agrabah swooped down a second time on his flying carpet. Al glanced down into the ravine, watching as his two children struggled to remain on the narrow ledge. "Don't move!" he yelled to them, "I'm coming to get you!"
Kal saw the marauders disappearing from his sight as he squinted in pain. "They're getting away!"
"Father, go after them!" Mira added.
The sultan flew down, Carpet fluttering beneath his feet. When they were level with the ledge he first helped his daughter onto the flying rug, then the two together pulled the wounded son on board.
Laying Kal flat as they swiftly flew home, Alddin anxiously asked, "Where does it hurt?"
Kalil stared at his dad in astonishment. "You just let them leave like that? You never let anyone escape."
Al returned the stare. "Did you think I would have just left you on that ledge?"
Mira gave him a confused expression. "I didn't think you would have noticed us. Didn't you come out there to catch some kind of bad guy?"
"No, I came to get you. I..." Aladdin's jaw dropped as he realized what his daughter was saying. At first, he tried to make excused. "Well, I have been really busy and..." He gave up that plan quickly and let out a loud exhale. Gathering his two children in his arms, he told them, "I'm sorry."
Mira wondered out loud, "Why didn't you ever tell us about Mozenrath? I mean, you've told us about every other monster and villain to ever roam the seven desserts. Why did you leave him out of the stories?"
Aladdin tightened his hold on them slightly. "I was so scared of being a terrible father. Then when Kal was taken....I guess I just wanted to forget that it ever happened."
After another moment of the hug, Kal spoke up. "Um...Father...this is really nice and all, but I'm really in a lot of pain. So, could you just help me out and take us home."
"Oh right!" Aladdin released them, then eyed his son. "I thought you didn't want my help anymore."
"When did I say that?" Kal asked placing his hand at his sid to check for bleeding.
"The day Celeste came to Agrabah, remember."
"I still don't need your help," Kal defended, "It's just...well..." He paused before his voice came out in a whine, "It hurts!"
Back at the palace, Genie was the one to inspect Kal's wound and "tsk" at it. "You play to rough," he scolded. An Egyptian sarcophagus appeared behind the blue spirit. He reached inside and being to unravel the mummy within. The mummy, who was a Genie copy, gasped and blushed as he legs became bare. He grabbed the wrapping from Genie and shut the door on the coffin. The sarcophagus vanished and Genie sighed, "Hmm, I'll have to find some bandages someplace else. Be right back." He flew into his lamp, then came back out with a roll of white gauze.
Mira sat on a step in front of the through. "This was all for nothing. Just another dead end." She glanced around counting heads. Her parents, her grandfather, her brother, Genie, the animals, and Captain Sinbad were all there. "Where's Celeste?"
"I have seen her since earlier this afternoon," Aladdin commented.
Kal muttered as he removed his shirt so Genie could wrap the gauze around his middle, "She's probably packing."
"I'll go find her," Mira volunteered and head towards the bed chambers.
Meanwhile, Jasmine frowned deeply at her son. "Men!" Turning her glare at Aladdin, she added, "I blame you for our son." Then, she looked back at Kal. "If you want Celeste to stay than tell her that. Stop acting like it doesn't matter when it obviously does."
Mira returned in a rush, "She's not in her room and the guards haven't seen her for two hours!"
Iago slapped his wing against his face, "Oh boy. Not again!"
Kal sat up straight in panic, but settle back again from the pain of his injury. "She thinks she's putting us in danger," he explained, "She say Mozenrath is in her head when she dreams."
Cassim spoke up, "Then she's right. She could put all of our plan at risk."
Sinbad, obviously taking the comment as an insult towards his daughter, opened his mouth to shout something, but Aladdin cut in. "No, that's no reason for her to just go off on her own. We can protect her. It's just a matter of being careful of what we say around her."
"But how are we going to find her to tell her that?" Jasmine questioned softly.
Abu suddenly squawked wildly. Everyone turned to see Celeste come inside from the garden. "Is everyone alright?" was her response to their anxious faces.
"We thought you had run away again," Mira answered with a relieved smile.
Celeste couldn't help smiling back as her cheeks grew pink from embarrassment. "I almost did, but I realized that I don't know which way the harbor is." Recovering from the humiliation of her lack of direction, the girl held out a stone to the group. "I think this may be what we were all looking for."
Aladdin took the rock and read this spell carved upon it. "With blood and cherished items three generations long, follow the sound of a female relative's cry, to a time piece of little importance and a liquid to sustain all who heed this dark lullaby. May two heroes shed their blood and may power arise. May the one who resurrects be the one who dies."
"Okay, that officially made absolutely no sense!" Iago complained.
"Genie, do you have any ideas?" Jasmine asked.
He didn't joke with his answer. He was completely solemn. "A spell like that can only be for one thing...giving a new body to someone who has been dead."
Mira beamed at Celeste, then turned to Kal. "See that. If she had left we wouldn't have had that valuable piece of information."
Kal just nodded. Iago watched him look at Celeste and flew over to Cassim's shoulder. "Oh please. Someone resolve the angst! It's making me nauseous." The older man just laughed.
Aladdin, Jasmine, Mira, and Sinbad all sat at the table in order to discuss the spell and try to understand exactly what it meant.
Genie continued to poke at Kal's ribs and the boy winced. Celeste at last approached the pair. She took Kal's shirt from Genie who stuffed his hands into his pockets. As he turned away, trying to seem casual, he said, "I'll just go over to the random area of the room and it has absolutely nothing to do with wanting to leave the two of you alone."
With him gone, Celeste smiled at the prince and held out his shirt to him. "Maybe I should have come along. Lately, you've been getting into worse trouble than I ever have."
Kalil smirked as she held up his shirt in order to help him put it on. "Are you always going to be this nice to me when I come back from a near death experience?"
"Don't push your luck," she told him as she pulled the material carefully over his bandages.
He let out a painful yelp and her eyes widened in concern. When he saw her reaction, they young man let out a louder gasp followed by several more exclamations of "Owe! Ouch!" Giving her a forlorn expression he suggested, "Could you help me over to the table?"
Aladdin was watching the prince's play acting. He chuckled, "That's my son."
Celeste smiled at him with sweetness and understanding. Leaning in close to him, thier faces growing dangerously close as if their lips may meet at any second, Kal held his breath. Suddenly, she poked at his wound and replied, "Do I look like a crutch to you?"
Sinbad nudged Aladdin. "That's my daughter."
WATCH FOR STORY 15: High Adventure
Mozenrath's plan goes into action on the same night that Kal decides to tell Celeste something of importance.