The Cruelest Lies Are Often Told In Silence
(DISCLAMER: The title of this chapter is by Robert Louis Stevenson, from one of his? stories? Virginibus Purisque(1881).
Abu skittered across the parapet, avoiding the mamlucks as he searched for the secret entrance to the dungeon. He just knew it was around here somewhere. He hadn't spent all this time around the palace just stealing food from the kitchens and fighting with Iago. The clever little monkey knew nearly every passage around this place, just in case of an emergency. And this was most deffinatly an emergency.
He couldn't quite figure out what was with that white haired fellow, but then again, if he was friends with Mozenrath, he wasn't sure he wanted to know. He had his lock picks in his vest, and his best friend trapped in a dungeon. That was all he needed to know.
Abu found the silver knob on the right side of the Sultan's bed and scrambled up the bedpost. He turned it twice to the right, once to the left, and three times around. There was a light clicking sound and a small crawlspace opened up just under the bedside drawer. Chattering happily, the monkey checked to make sure all his picks were in place, and scampered down to the dungeon cells. Ignoring the spiders and fleas crawling about.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Aladdin stared at the man through the bars. It was not Randri, though he had rather hoped it would be. The nymph might be Mozenrath's lover, but he was unusually...well sorted. That was the only way he could think to put it. Naturally, it hadn't fazed him to discover Mozenrath's preferred sexual tastes, as a child of the streets; he knew well that there were worse things then two men together. Still, he would have rather been talking to Randri then Mozenrath.
Something was wrong. Aladdin knew it from the moment Mozenrath had stomped down there, his fists blazing with magic, his eyes burning with an emotion he couldn't quite place. There was the smell of recent lovemaking in the air. Mozenrath glared at him, as though somehow whatever events had taken place was his fault. His gauntlet lifted and he fired erratically into the cell. Aladdin didn't even have to duck, just block his head from a few pieces of falling mortar. "Something wrong in the bedroom Moze?" he taunted.
This time Aladdin had to dodge to avoid a shot. "You know nothing!" he yelled and fired again.
Aladdin looked at the holes in the wall, wondering if that might be enough for him to dig through. "Are you insane?" he hollered back.
Mozenrath stopped in his tracks, the magic from his glove toning down a bit. ~What was I thinking? ~ He lowered his hand and resumed his arrogant stance. "I don't know what you're talking about street rat." he said in a firmer voice then he'd though.
Aladdin smirked lightly, catching on to the act. "Sorry Moze, You might not be the closest thing to sane, but I know you're not crazy. You don't just go sporadically blasting a prison cell to bits because your venting." he leaned against the wall, his body looking as relaxed as possible. "What's wrong? Did Randri not make for as good of a partner as you thought?" he baited.
Mozenrath snorted and curled his upper lip. "And what would you know of it?' he asked. He was surprised to find himself staying to hear the answer. He had meant to simply snap the comment, maybe get off another good blast or two, but instead he only leaned against the wall, locking eyes with the hero and daring for him to make a statement.
Aladdin dared. "More then you think." he decided to be just as snippy and offensive as Mozenrath was, it seemed to put them on more even footing. "I'm a street rat Mozenrath, you and just about every other villain on earth remind me of it constantly. You think that kind of life is sheltered? You think I just took a thieves life for fun? You people look down on me because I was born poor. Because I had to steal every day just to put a few crumbs of bread in my mouth. You think everything was handed to me on a silver platter. Got news for you, it wasn't."
Aladdin's voice had taken on a tone Mozenrath didn't recognize, a combination of anger and pity. He found himself temporarily captured by those dark hazel eyes, allowing Aladdin to speak without interruption.
"I worked long and hard Mozenrath, I tried to make a different life for myself once or twice, but that gets hard once you get a name in the ally- ways. No one ever said life was easy. But there's only one alternative Moze, and quite frankly it's going to have to drag me kicking and fighting every step of the way." Aladdin crossed his arms, his little speech over with, and waited for Mozenrath to speak.
"Stunning." Mozenrath said acidic ally, clapping his hands. "Really Aladdin, though you fail as a Prince you'd succeed beautifully as a politician." he watched as Aladdin sighed and turned away.
"You know Moze, it's a wonder you even have a lover. Someone as cold as you doesn't possess the warmpth needed to treat a lover properly." He turned his head halfway, his jaw in a hard line. "Is that what the problem is? Did you say something to hurt Randri?"
"And if I did? What business is that of yours?" Mozenrath snapped.
"Your right. It is none of my business, but if you don't want my opinion...Hey it's not like you're the one in a cell." Aladdin returned sarcastically.
Mozenrath growled and spun on his heel, preparing to leave the hero alone again.
"Doesn't it matter that you hurt him?" Aladdin called out finally, stopping Mozenrath. "Or do you not concern yourself with even your companion's emotions?"
Mozenrath paused for a moment, half turned as though to say something, and then left, slamming the door behind him, more affected by Aladdin's words then he cared to admit.
Aladdin sat down on the small cot and prayed silently to himself. He had tried every thieves trick in the book, from picking the lock with a hard stick to snatching the keys from a passing guard. But Mozenrath had been amazingly thorough this time. The mamlucks had been ordered to carry no keys or metal objects bedside's their swords. Even their bones might have come in useful; he's used a finger joint to pick locks before. But that would have meant destroying the mamlucks, something he couldn't do without calling the others to the commotion. He had hoped reverently that Jasmine had escaped, but in all reality she was worse off then him.
"Alwadin Alwadin." Aladdin jumped up from his cot as his small furry friend dropped onto the dirty floor, carrying a set of picks and covered in cobwebs.
"Abu you clever sneak!" he picked up Abu and began cleaning off his friend. "How did you get past Mozenrath?"
Abu mimed "busy" and chattered "white-haired man". Aladdin couldn't help but grin. SO Mozenrath had been busy with Randri, no wonder he hadn't noticed the monkey.
"Thanks little fella." he said and selected a Q shaped pick. "This aught do it." he walked over to the bars and scanned the hallway. He couldn't see and zombies, but that didn't mean they weren't there. "Abu, check the corridors. If you see any bone bags, keep 'em distracted until I can undo the lock." Abu gave a quick salute and hopped out of the cell, only to be nearly gutted by a blade. "Abu!" Aladdin yelled.
But the monkey was already on the run, avoiding the clumsy mamlucks by centimeters. He was running so fast he had to skid on the damp floor just to miss getting sliced by another shambling creature, sending the two colliding into one another.
Aladdin set to work on the lock. It was tricky, Mozenrath had engendered a new kind of component system, full of gears and cogs and springs in sizes he couldn't understand. He was either going to have to break it, (bad idea) or figure out the triggering system (good idea). "Come on Come on." he muttered as his friend came barreling down the halls, three mamlucks on his long tail.
One of the mamlucks had just enough brains to notice what exactly Aladdin was doing and yelled through his sewn mouth. Aladdin looked up and tried to pull his arm back. A squeeze on his arm and he realized he was stuck in the bars. "Oh no!" The mamlucks raised its sword high, ready to sever the stray limb.
"Heeeya!" Jasmine flew in from no where, kicking the mamlucks away from her beloved and grabbing the sword before it hit the ground. The zombie burst into pieces as it hit, each piece with joints flexing in an attempt to move. "Aladdin are you...?'
"Save Abu!" he yelled, trying to pry his arm free.
"Iago." Jasmine called and the parrot took off.
"Sheesh I'm always the one saving the monkey. Iago, save Abu from the boiling lava! Iago, save Abu from the giant cobra! Iagoooooooooo!" Iago finally stopped ranting as Abu tackled him to the ground. "Offa me!" he started yelling as he struggled out. He grabbed Abu by his claws and took off, flying to the ceiling where the mamlucks couldn't reach. "Hah! Jerks!" Iago stuck out his tongue as they landed on a beam.
Jasmine whipped around and grabbed the fallen mamlucks sword. Forgetting about the bird and monkey, the mamlucks now focused on the princess. "Aladdin!" she called out and began holding them off.
"Just a little further." Aladdin heard a sharp click and snap as the lock came undone. "Yes!" he grabbed the sheet from his cot and threw it up to Iago. "Iago, get these over the mamlucks!" For once the parrot didn't question or rant, only caught the edge and threw it over the mamlucks pulling it up over a rafter and throwing it to Aladdin and Jasmine.
"Pull!" They pulled hard until the bundle of bones crashed into the ceiling, breaking the zombies to bits.
"There was the easy part." Jasmine said and hugged Aladdin. "Now to deal with Mozenrath and that nymph!" she gritted her teeth and made ready to face battle.
"No." Aladdin laid a hand on her arm and shook his head. "We can't, not yet. Mozenrath's still got that cloud thing he could release on Agrabah. We can't attack until we've got a way to dispel it. Plus theirs Randri to deal with. I don't think he's an evil person, but he's most deffinatly loyal to Mozenrath."
To his surprise, a hint of pink turned up on Jasmine's cheeks. "Yes...umm. Aladdin. You don't suppose...Mozenrath and Randri..." she trailed off and Aladdin remembered once again how naive his beloved could be.
"It doesn't matter right now." He insisted, promising to explaine it later. "Their a danger to Agrabah, and we need to be worried about that." he held Jasmine close and felt her back. "We have to go, now. Maybe Jafar's lab has some info..."
"Umm yeah Al about that." Iago scratched the back of his feathers. "Mozenrath sorta...found...the lab."
Aladdin clenched his jaw, determined not to lose his temper at the parrot. "Some times...just sometimes Iago, you really make me regret saving you." he watched as Abu chastised the bird with his own chattering brand of reprimand.
"What about Mozenrath's library. We've never been in that section of the Citadel before, it might be informative." Jasmine suggested.
"No good. Mozenrath began transporting all his texts here as soon as he got you two jailed up. What isn't already in the palace library is guarded by more mamlucks then Genie can get through." Iago said. Annoying as the parrot was, he often brought in good info.
"Genie. What are we going to do about Genie?" Jasmine asked.
"We can't do anything, not yet. Mozenrath's sure to notice we're gone in the next few hours, sooner if we try and rescue him. We'll just have to hope he can hang on till we can rescue him." Aladdin bit his lip. He did not like the idea of leaving Genie behind, not to the tender mercies of Mozenrath. But right now they had no choice. "Come on. If only we knew where carpet was."
Once again, Abu proved his worth and grabbed Aladdin's arm, pointing and chattering excitedly to the secret passage he'd entered through. Roughly, it meant that carpet was already waiting for them outside. "Great. Now all we need is a way to defeat Mozenrath."
Jasmine snapped her fingers. "Sadira! She's got a good sized library in her hands. Maybe she can give us the answer."
"Or if not, at least give us a good start." Aladdin put Abu on his shoulder's and began to climb in through the passage. "Come on, we need to move fast."
(DISCLAMER: The title of this chapter is by Robert Louis Stevenson, from one of his? stories? Virginibus Purisque(1881).
Abu skittered across the parapet, avoiding the mamlucks as he searched for the secret entrance to the dungeon. He just knew it was around here somewhere. He hadn't spent all this time around the palace just stealing food from the kitchens and fighting with Iago. The clever little monkey knew nearly every passage around this place, just in case of an emergency. And this was most deffinatly an emergency.
He couldn't quite figure out what was with that white haired fellow, but then again, if he was friends with Mozenrath, he wasn't sure he wanted to know. He had his lock picks in his vest, and his best friend trapped in a dungeon. That was all he needed to know.
Abu found the silver knob on the right side of the Sultan's bed and scrambled up the bedpost. He turned it twice to the right, once to the left, and three times around. There was a light clicking sound and a small crawlspace opened up just under the bedside drawer. Chattering happily, the monkey checked to make sure all his picks were in place, and scampered down to the dungeon cells. Ignoring the spiders and fleas crawling about.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Aladdin stared at the man through the bars. It was not Randri, though he had rather hoped it would be. The nymph might be Mozenrath's lover, but he was unusually...well sorted. That was the only way he could think to put it. Naturally, it hadn't fazed him to discover Mozenrath's preferred sexual tastes, as a child of the streets; he knew well that there were worse things then two men together. Still, he would have rather been talking to Randri then Mozenrath.
Something was wrong. Aladdin knew it from the moment Mozenrath had stomped down there, his fists blazing with magic, his eyes burning with an emotion he couldn't quite place. There was the smell of recent lovemaking in the air. Mozenrath glared at him, as though somehow whatever events had taken place was his fault. His gauntlet lifted and he fired erratically into the cell. Aladdin didn't even have to duck, just block his head from a few pieces of falling mortar. "Something wrong in the bedroom Moze?" he taunted.
This time Aladdin had to dodge to avoid a shot. "You know nothing!" he yelled and fired again.
Aladdin looked at the holes in the wall, wondering if that might be enough for him to dig through. "Are you insane?" he hollered back.
Mozenrath stopped in his tracks, the magic from his glove toning down a bit. ~What was I thinking? ~ He lowered his hand and resumed his arrogant stance. "I don't know what you're talking about street rat." he said in a firmer voice then he'd though.
Aladdin smirked lightly, catching on to the act. "Sorry Moze, You might not be the closest thing to sane, but I know you're not crazy. You don't just go sporadically blasting a prison cell to bits because your venting." he leaned against the wall, his body looking as relaxed as possible. "What's wrong? Did Randri not make for as good of a partner as you thought?" he baited.
Mozenrath snorted and curled his upper lip. "And what would you know of it?' he asked. He was surprised to find himself staying to hear the answer. He had meant to simply snap the comment, maybe get off another good blast or two, but instead he only leaned against the wall, locking eyes with the hero and daring for him to make a statement.
Aladdin dared. "More then you think." he decided to be just as snippy and offensive as Mozenrath was, it seemed to put them on more even footing. "I'm a street rat Mozenrath, you and just about every other villain on earth remind me of it constantly. You think that kind of life is sheltered? You think I just took a thieves life for fun? You people look down on me because I was born poor. Because I had to steal every day just to put a few crumbs of bread in my mouth. You think everything was handed to me on a silver platter. Got news for you, it wasn't."
Aladdin's voice had taken on a tone Mozenrath didn't recognize, a combination of anger and pity. He found himself temporarily captured by those dark hazel eyes, allowing Aladdin to speak without interruption.
"I worked long and hard Mozenrath, I tried to make a different life for myself once or twice, but that gets hard once you get a name in the ally- ways. No one ever said life was easy. But there's only one alternative Moze, and quite frankly it's going to have to drag me kicking and fighting every step of the way." Aladdin crossed his arms, his little speech over with, and waited for Mozenrath to speak.
"Stunning." Mozenrath said acidic ally, clapping his hands. "Really Aladdin, though you fail as a Prince you'd succeed beautifully as a politician." he watched as Aladdin sighed and turned away.
"You know Moze, it's a wonder you even have a lover. Someone as cold as you doesn't possess the warmpth needed to treat a lover properly." He turned his head halfway, his jaw in a hard line. "Is that what the problem is? Did you say something to hurt Randri?"
"And if I did? What business is that of yours?" Mozenrath snapped.
"Your right. It is none of my business, but if you don't want my opinion...Hey it's not like you're the one in a cell." Aladdin returned sarcastically.
Mozenrath growled and spun on his heel, preparing to leave the hero alone again.
"Doesn't it matter that you hurt him?" Aladdin called out finally, stopping Mozenrath. "Or do you not concern yourself with even your companion's emotions?"
Mozenrath paused for a moment, half turned as though to say something, and then left, slamming the door behind him, more affected by Aladdin's words then he cared to admit.
Aladdin sat down on the small cot and prayed silently to himself. He had tried every thieves trick in the book, from picking the lock with a hard stick to snatching the keys from a passing guard. But Mozenrath had been amazingly thorough this time. The mamlucks had been ordered to carry no keys or metal objects bedside's their swords. Even their bones might have come in useful; he's used a finger joint to pick locks before. But that would have meant destroying the mamlucks, something he couldn't do without calling the others to the commotion. He had hoped reverently that Jasmine had escaped, but in all reality she was worse off then him.
"Alwadin Alwadin." Aladdin jumped up from his cot as his small furry friend dropped onto the dirty floor, carrying a set of picks and covered in cobwebs.
"Abu you clever sneak!" he picked up Abu and began cleaning off his friend. "How did you get past Mozenrath?"
Abu mimed "busy" and chattered "white-haired man". Aladdin couldn't help but grin. SO Mozenrath had been busy with Randri, no wonder he hadn't noticed the monkey.
"Thanks little fella." he said and selected a Q shaped pick. "This aught do it." he walked over to the bars and scanned the hallway. He couldn't see and zombies, but that didn't mean they weren't there. "Abu, check the corridors. If you see any bone bags, keep 'em distracted until I can undo the lock." Abu gave a quick salute and hopped out of the cell, only to be nearly gutted by a blade. "Abu!" Aladdin yelled.
But the monkey was already on the run, avoiding the clumsy mamlucks by centimeters. He was running so fast he had to skid on the damp floor just to miss getting sliced by another shambling creature, sending the two colliding into one another.
Aladdin set to work on the lock. It was tricky, Mozenrath had engendered a new kind of component system, full of gears and cogs and springs in sizes he couldn't understand. He was either going to have to break it, (bad idea) or figure out the triggering system (good idea). "Come on Come on." he muttered as his friend came barreling down the halls, three mamlucks on his long tail.
One of the mamlucks had just enough brains to notice what exactly Aladdin was doing and yelled through his sewn mouth. Aladdin looked up and tried to pull his arm back. A squeeze on his arm and he realized he was stuck in the bars. "Oh no!" The mamlucks raised its sword high, ready to sever the stray limb.
"Heeeya!" Jasmine flew in from no where, kicking the mamlucks away from her beloved and grabbing the sword before it hit the ground. The zombie burst into pieces as it hit, each piece with joints flexing in an attempt to move. "Aladdin are you...?'
"Save Abu!" he yelled, trying to pry his arm free.
"Iago." Jasmine called and the parrot took off.
"Sheesh I'm always the one saving the monkey. Iago, save Abu from the boiling lava! Iago, save Abu from the giant cobra! Iagoooooooooo!" Iago finally stopped ranting as Abu tackled him to the ground. "Offa me!" he started yelling as he struggled out. He grabbed Abu by his claws and took off, flying to the ceiling where the mamlucks couldn't reach. "Hah! Jerks!" Iago stuck out his tongue as they landed on a beam.
Jasmine whipped around and grabbed the fallen mamlucks sword. Forgetting about the bird and monkey, the mamlucks now focused on the princess. "Aladdin!" she called out and began holding them off.
"Just a little further." Aladdin heard a sharp click and snap as the lock came undone. "Yes!" he grabbed the sheet from his cot and threw it up to Iago. "Iago, get these over the mamlucks!" For once the parrot didn't question or rant, only caught the edge and threw it over the mamlucks pulling it up over a rafter and throwing it to Aladdin and Jasmine.
"Pull!" They pulled hard until the bundle of bones crashed into the ceiling, breaking the zombies to bits.
"There was the easy part." Jasmine said and hugged Aladdin. "Now to deal with Mozenrath and that nymph!" she gritted her teeth and made ready to face battle.
"No." Aladdin laid a hand on her arm and shook his head. "We can't, not yet. Mozenrath's still got that cloud thing he could release on Agrabah. We can't attack until we've got a way to dispel it. Plus theirs Randri to deal with. I don't think he's an evil person, but he's most deffinatly loyal to Mozenrath."
To his surprise, a hint of pink turned up on Jasmine's cheeks. "Yes...umm. Aladdin. You don't suppose...Mozenrath and Randri..." she trailed off and Aladdin remembered once again how naive his beloved could be.
"It doesn't matter right now." He insisted, promising to explaine it later. "Their a danger to Agrabah, and we need to be worried about that." he held Jasmine close and felt her back. "We have to go, now. Maybe Jafar's lab has some info..."
"Umm yeah Al about that." Iago scratched the back of his feathers. "Mozenrath sorta...found...the lab."
Aladdin clenched his jaw, determined not to lose his temper at the parrot. "Some times...just sometimes Iago, you really make me regret saving you." he watched as Abu chastised the bird with his own chattering brand of reprimand.
"What about Mozenrath's library. We've never been in that section of the Citadel before, it might be informative." Jasmine suggested.
"No good. Mozenrath began transporting all his texts here as soon as he got you two jailed up. What isn't already in the palace library is guarded by more mamlucks then Genie can get through." Iago said. Annoying as the parrot was, he often brought in good info.
"Genie. What are we going to do about Genie?" Jasmine asked.
"We can't do anything, not yet. Mozenrath's sure to notice we're gone in the next few hours, sooner if we try and rescue him. We'll just have to hope he can hang on till we can rescue him." Aladdin bit his lip. He did not like the idea of leaving Genie behind, not to the tender mercies of Mozenrath. But right now they had no choice. "Come on. If only we knew where carpet was."
Once again, Abu proved his worth and grabbed Aladdin's arm, pointing and chattering excitedly to the secret passage he'd entered through. Roughly, it meant that carpet was already waiting for them outside. "Great. Now all we need is a way to defeat Mozenrath."
Jasmine snapped her fingers. "Sadira! She's got a good sized library in her hands. Maybe she can give us the answer."
"Or if not, at least give us a good start." Aladdin put Abu on his shoulder's and began to climb in through the passage. "Come on, we need to move fast."