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Chapter 3: Getting In
Dhandi began regretting when her bare feet felt the first jabs of the pebbles on her way down the hill. Even with years of developing calluses upon her soles, each step felt like she was stepping broken glass. She looked up at the hazy violet sky, inquisitively. She had asked Eden why the sky was blue. She forgot what she said, recalling something about the sky mirroring the color of the ocean. She began to wonder if this place's oceans were purple too when she ran into a browning juniper hedge. Sputtering, she looked up and saw the familiar red stones of the maze.
"Now, I gotta find the way in," she said to herself, rushing alongside the hedges. She stopped in her tracks when she saw a tall lanky man, mumbling to himself as he clumsily swatted tiny dots of light on the other side of the hedge. She backed away, keeping him in her sight, but hopefully out of his. One of the dots of light pulled at his nose and the man swung his large hand to swat it, only to smack himself squarely in the face. Dhandi stifled laughter from behind the hedge, when the man suddenly yelped in fear.
"Who is there!" he squeaked timidly. "Master, I-I wasn't shirking. I am your faithful servant-"
He stopped as Dhandi inched out from behind the hedge. His frightened appearance melted into a frown.
"Oh, just a little girl." He turned away from her, rather impudently.
"Um, I was wondering," Dhandi said, approaching a little bit closer to the man, "if you knew how to get in there."
The clownish man ignored her, swatting the bright lights.
"Well, it's kinda important," Dhandi continued, following him. The man shrugged, stumbling comically with his own ungainly feet.
"You see, I have until the sand in this hourglass to reach the center," she held up her hourglass, black sand slowly but surely piling up, "and I was wondering if you could help me."
"I'm sorry, little girl," he said impertinently, "but I don't have time for you. I am busy with...eh, something!"
Dhandi frowned, but suddenly smirked as she reached into her pockets and pulled out something small.
"Too bad," she said, loudly, "I was gonna pay you." Like a dog to the familiar sound of a toy, the man spun his head towards her, covetously. She held up a tiny little pale pink conch on a thin piece of twine. Seeing that, he frowned, disappointedly.
"It's just a shell," he said. Dhandi smirked.
"Yes and no," the girl twirled the shell around, playfully. "It's the famed Conch of Para-moor, said to grant any wish to its owner." The man gazed lustfully at the twirling shell, as if hypnotized.
"But since you don't know how to get in," Dhandi pulled it away from his gaze, "I guess I'll have to find someone who does and reward them. Shame, really. I knew someone who wished for the Princess of Para-moor and she showed up on his doorstep on day out of nowhere-"
"Eh, wait for a moment," the man said, hastily. "I-I could show you the way in. Anything for the sweet little girl with the pretty shell. Amin deMoolah offers his humble service."
"Amin," Dhandi repeated, fascinated. "It's a very nice name. My name is Dhandi-"
"Yes, yes, yes," Amin ignored her, quickly, "It is nice. I will show you the door." The man stumbled towards the wall behind them, Dhandi following behind. He mumbled incoherently as he felt the vine-covered wall frantically. Suddenly, his hand stopped on an irregularly shaped stone and, balling it into a fist, he knocked on it. The wall rumbled as it parted in front of them, revealing twisting passages of stone. Dhandi stuck her head in, amazed.
"Wow," she said, stepping inside. "Halim, I'm on my way-"
"Uh, little girl," Amin interrupted, "what about me?"
"Oh, your fee," Dhandi tossed the conch to the theif and began running. "Thank you, Amin! You've been a great help!"
Waving until Dhandi disappeared around a corner and the wall closed, Amin crouched down, gazing greedily at the tiny shell.
"Now," he mused aloud, "do I get it to work?"
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Mozenrath slumped in his chair, cheek leaning against his fist. His eyes focused intently on a spot near the stone ceiling, where a scene of Amin rubbing the conch furiously was playing like a filmstrip. The sorcerer rubbed his temples, annoyed by the wailing in the background.
"DeMoolah," he sighed, "you are an idiot." Xerxes hovered towards his master, turning to look at the scene.
"Butterfingers stupid," he hissed. Mozenrath glared at his familiar, irritated.
"No kidding. Let's see how our heroine is faring." He waved his hand lazily and the scene changed to Dhandi, running her hand across the walls as she looked around, bewildered.
"So, he let her in," he straightened up in his seat. He watched as she went down the passage and reached a dead end. "No matter, it's all going to be pointless."
He got up from his chair, walked towards the black cradle beside it, and leaned over it. "No matter what she does, you and your babysitter are still gonna be mine."
Halim gurgled softly, staring back restlessly at the sorcerer. Mozenrath smiled at the babe, very much like a tiger would at a fawn.
"Yes," he cooed, a mockery of parental affection, "you, her, and soon your daddy, the street rat, will be trapped here until the forces of Chaos tear at your very souls whilst I will get to strangle your mommy and usurp her throne. Yes, I will. Yes, I will."
The sorcerer reached his hand into the cradle when Halim began to scream. Mozenrath withdrew, grabbing his ears painfully. Xerxes writhed upon the floor in pain.
"Stupid kid is definitely his mother's son," he seethed, lowering his gauntlet and pointing it at the cradle. A flash of that dark blue aura and the cradle was surrounded by a glowing dome. More importantly, the sounds of Halim wailing stopped. However, one could see that inside the dome, Halim was still bawling his lungs out. Xerxes, no longer writhing, swam towards the dome and stuck his tongue out at the babe, cries muted.
"I swear," Mozenrath slumped back into his chair, unaware of the pair of glowing yellow eyes hovering above him, "that baby is begging to be shaken."
"Always with the violence," a voice chimed in. Mozenrath tilted his head up and saw the eyes, now with a mouth full of white teeth. "You run the risk of getting predictable."
The sorcerer stood straight up and watched as a body materialized upon the back of the chair. It was that of a cat, though it was sky blue even much like Aladdin's genie and it had a pair of massive wings upon its back. Mozenrath glared at the cat irritated as it leapt into the seat of the chair.
"My, guests," the cat purred amused. "I don't get many guests. If I knew you were coming, I would have baked a pie." Mozenrath opened his mouth to complain, when suddenly a cream pie flew into his face, whipped cream and crust dripping down the front of his attire.
"Oh, wait. There it is."
The sorcerer mirthlessly wiped the traces of pie from his eyes, still glaring venomously at the cat. Xerxes hissed at it, snapping his jaws. Suddenly, his tongue stretched out and began wrapping itself around the eel's jaws, the familiar's eyes bulging in surprise.
Grinning, the cat disappeared from the chair. Fuming, Mozenrath muttered a few choice words and the traces of pie flew off his body, not leaving a single speck.
"I hate cats," he grumbled.
"Funny," the cat replied, now perched upon the sorcerer's turban, "'cause I like you."
"Then why do you insist on tormenting me!" Mozenrath reached his hands up to grab the cat, only to pull off his turban, the feline not in sight. He looked around, growing increasingly aggravated. The cat not in sight, he threw his turban into his chair and sat on the armrest. He sighed, rubbing his temples as he heard Xerxes whimpering.
"That's the trouble with you humans," the cat reappeared on the armrest opposite of Mozenrath, the sorcerer nearly falling off, "you get so worked up over change. You need to loosen up."
The sorcerer glared at the cat, lip twitching. "What gives you the right to bother me?" he roared.
Suddenly, the scene grew black and the cat grew to an intimidating proportion and stared down at Mozenrath. "I have that right," the cat bellowed, "because I am Chaos, Master of this dimensional plane of disarray, whereas you, little sorcerer, have little power here."
"I see," Mozenrath replied, coolly. "And that would explain why I spent three years creating a labyrinth if I have 'little power here'."
"You made this place?" Chaos shrunk back down to his normal size and plopped down on Mozenrath's head, much to the sorcerer's chagrin. "I was wondering who made it. I like mazes. You never know which way will lead you to the finish."
"Yes," Mozenrath said, annoyed. Chaos leapt off his head and flapped his massive wings over to the screen, eying Dhandi.
"Ooh, another guest," Chaos replied, pleased. "Must be my day."
"More like guinea pig," Mozenrath drawled, grabbing his turban. "Just a pawn in another of my plans."
"Oh, still at it with your little raison d'etre, even though Fate smiles on Aladdin."
Mozenrath glowered at Chaos as he pulled his turban back on and slumped back into his chair. "I don't believe in fate."
"What a coincidence," Chaos purred as he lowered himself on the right armrest. "Fate doesn't believe in you, either."
"Oh, so a little cosmic kitty doesn't like me," the sorcerer scoffed. "Like I care! What I have done has been a result of my own doing, not the workings of a bunch of divine furballs!"
"And that's why I like you," Chaos replied, mirthfully. "You have tenacity. Even when Fate had condemned you to die, you didn't take it lying down. I'm impressed."
Mozenrath smirked. "That's why you bother me?"
"It gets kinda boring watching you lose to Aladdin," Chaos purred, Xerxes creeping up on him from behind. The familiar was ready to stomp down on Chaos' tail when the cat suddenly set a paw down on the eel's jaws. "I thought you needed a change in routine."
Xerxes started whining as he struggled to get the cat off him.
"Actually," Mozenrath got up from the chair, "I was getting ready to cause a little chaos myself." Releasing the eel from his paw, Chaos followed the sorcerer to the screen.
"Planning a little something with your maze?" Chaos inquired, scanning the scene and grinning. "Oh, won't she be surprised?"
"Probably. She lived a fairly dull existence, living in Agrabah."
"Oh, I've been there before. I had so much fun."
"Really?" Mozenrath said in mock amazement, turning back to the scene. "Even with all the strange things happening, she remains positive, cheerful, knowing that someone will come to the rescue and make it right again. The picture of youthful optimism and innocence. We have to help her."
"'The picture of youthful optimism and innocence', hmm," Chaos thought aloud, before turning to the sorcerer. "Why should I let you have all the fun?"
Mozenrath smiled as the cat leapt into the scene and disappeared. He chuckled to himself as he sat back down. Xerxes swam over to his master, blowing a raspberry at the scene.
"Good riddance," he rasped as Mozenrath roughly pushed him aside.
"No," the sorcerer disagreed, "it's wonderful."
"Wonderful!"
"I just got the greatest force in the cosmos to do my bidding." Mozenrath smiled implacable at the scene as Dhandi went further in the maze's twisting passages.
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A/N: Thanks to everybody who reviewed.
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, save for Halim.