As soon as they were back in Agrabah, Iago though that perhaps the best place for him to hide was Jafar's old lab. Yeah, he thought. After all, no one knew about it. It would be a perfect place to hide from the brats. He smiled to himself, wondering how he could possibly not have thought about his before. It wasn't a very pleasant place, true, but at least it was quiet, and relaxing. The journey was a nightmare, as usual, since there was no place to hide there, but as soon as they got back to the Palace, he flew out right away, before the children woke up. He looked around. He didn't like the lab. He had never like it at all, it gave him bad memories of Jafar torturing him and experimenting his magic on him.
"Oh well."he said to himself. "Perhaps the magic might just come in handy."he chuckled to himself.
If only he could come up with a way to work some kind of a spell on the brats. Now that wouldn't be a bad idea, but that would hurt Aladdin a lot, and after all that Aladdin and Jasmine had done for him. If only they just didn't have such hateful brats, then again, he had never been one to stand children. He had always hated them. He'd never gotten along with youngsters of any kind.
"Not precisely the place I'd choose for a relaxing nap, but…it's all there is, so deal with it, I guess."
He spend most of the next few days bored, looking through Jafar's old things. He started to think that he missed the children, but immediately reminded himself of the torturing they gave him.
"Jafar was probably a kind soul compared to them."
He only came out perhaps at mealtimes.
"Where have you been lately, Iago?"asked Aladdin. "We haven't seen much of you."
"Oh, just a here and there, you know, nowhere in particular."
"He's a witch! Aunt Aida told me all about them. She says that there are people and maybe even animals who have special powers, and everything. That they make themselves invisible, that they cast spells, and that their spells"
"That's enough!"said Jasmine. "You really shouldn't believe everything your aunt tells you. I've always said she's not quite right in the head."
"Aunt Aida tells lies?"
"No, she just believes in such extraordinary things."
"But they are extraordinary."
"That's just why they're not true."
"Yes they are!"
"Well, I guess that's a matter of opinion."
"Now, now, Dearest,"said Sultan Hamed. "You know what your sister's like. She just has a much more vivid imagination than you."
"A much more gullible one you mean."
"Oh, well, you never know."said Iago. "Maybe the things in which Aida believes are actually true. You never know."
"Oh, no, don't tell me she's convinced you, too, Iago."
"Well, you know…"Iago shrugged, and flew away.
No, it had not been because of what Aida believed in it that he believed in magic. It had been because of Jafar. Sometimes he wondered why those two never got along. Perhaps because even though they had a lot of the same interests, they were so different. Maybe each one saw the other one as a threat. Certainly Aida would have been just as fascinated as Jafar by magic.
Ali couldn't help noticing that since their return to Agrabah, they had seen less and less of Iago. They looked everywhere for him, but never managed to find him.
"Maybe Iago isn't in the Palace."he said.
"We can't go into the marketplace too much, only with Genie."said Aaliyah, scowling.
"Hmmm. We'll just have to go without permission."
"How?"
"Sabdullah told me all the times he's left without permission, to places where he shouldn't."
"Sabdullah is always allowed to go everywhere."
Ali shrugged.
"He says it's fun when no one knows where you are."
"Iago's going places without permission? Ooohhh!"
"I don't know. I want to go to the marketplace, or anywhere where he might be. I want to find him. Things aren't the same without Iago complaining about being tortured all the time."
Genie came out onto the garden.
"Now, what would everyone like to do with their spare time?"he asked.
"I think I'll go to my room."
Genie suddenly looked very concerned. Ali hardly ever spend any time in his room. Usually, he liked to cause as much trouble as possible.
"I'm just a little tired."
He ran back towards the Palace.
"Well, that's certainly…peculiar."he said, scratching his chin. Then he livened. "Well, we won't worry about that now, will we?"
Later, Ali climbed out of the Palace, using the same tree that Jasmine used when she decided to run away. He landed very hard on the other side of the wall.
"Ow!"
He got up and ran. He couldn't go through the whole city of Agrabah by himself in one day, he knew that, but he had to try, if he was ever going to find Iago. He felt a little afraid. He had never been in the marketplace before without someone else. Agrabah was a big city, and he might get lost. Well, if he did, then it was all Iago's fault, wasn't it? He began to feel scared. He walked up and down the streets. Everywhere he looked there were merchants selling, and people buying. He walked into a boy about his age, only dressed in rags.
"Oh, I'm sorry."Ali said distractedly. "I want to go back home!"he said to him. "Take me home!"he almost cried.
The boy looked at him. He looked almost awed at Ali's clothes.
"I want to go home!"he almost wished he hadn't tried to look for Iago. "I was looking for Iago, this is all his fault, but I want to go home now!"he cried.
He began to cry desperately. He wanted to back to the Palace, and be playing tricks on his sisters, and even being scolded by Genie. He looked around him. So many people! And he didn't know a single soul. At the Palace there weren't many people, except the servants, but he always knew them, and even if the didn't, he knew instinctively how they would act around him. Here some people stared at him curiously, others just ignored him. He just wanted to get back to the Palace, that was all. He looked up, and suddenly, he saw his grandfather. He had never been so happy to see him in all his life.
"Grandfather!"he yelled, as he ran toward him.
"Ali!"cried Cassim. "What are you doing here?"
"I was looking for Iago, but couldn't find him. I thought he was out here. I don't want to come looking for him here anymore, though. He's not here. I haven't been able to find him."
"You came by yourself!"
"I don't like the people here. They're rude. I want to go home."he said.
Cassim became very angry.
"You shouldn't have left the Palace alone."he told him, taking Ali by the arm, and pulling him.
"You're here alone."
"That's different. Your parents must be worried sick. How did you get out?"
"I got out through the wall. I climbed the wall."
"You shouldn't have climbed out of the Palace. Something could have happened to you, dressed the way you are, more than one person must have thought about stealing something from you, and wouldn't hesitate to kill you even, perhaps."
"I don't like these people. They're weird. They're not like everyone at the Palace."
"Of course they're not! And now you will not leave the Palace for a good amount of time. I shall be speaking to your parents about you."
Aladdin and Jasmine were very upset when Ali returned.
"Where were you!"asked Jasmine, with tears in her eyes, almost.
"I think…"said Genie, checking a list. "The punishment for running away, is…"he looked at his list.
"I wasn't running away! I was looking for Iago."
"Iago!"said Genie.
"Hey, at least the kid's back, and it's not like I tricked him."said Iago.
Genie crossed his arms and looked sternly at Iago.
"That's enough, Genie!"said Aladdin. "We're just glad that Ali is back. How could you possibly think about leaving the Palace by yourself?"
"I thought I could find Iago."
"Well, we have to forget about Iago for right now. Go to your room."
Ali went back to his room.
"Tomorrow, I will find out what Iago's up to."he said to himself.
He managed to get up early the next morning, and still in his pajamas, went out into the hallway. He saw Iago flying towards a wall. Then he pulled something, and the wall opened.
"Cool!"said Ali.
He ran towards the wall and did the same. He found himself staring at a staircase. He climbed the stairs. It was a long climb, and finally, when he came to the end of it, he entered a dark room with a lot of curious object.