They all went towards the tower laboratory. Aida in the lead, Francisco second, Aladdin and Jasmine together behind him, Cassim, Hamed, and Josefina bringing up the rear, shaking in her shoes and looking terrified.
"I once remember Jafar appearing suddenly, out of this wall."said Jasmine.
"You did?"asked Hamed.
"Yes. Of course at that time I was too mad to notice." She looked down. "That was when the guards took Aladdin from the marketplace, and Jafar told me he had been executed."
"Oh, dear!"exclaimed Hamed.
"Well, see, the wall opens, and then you see the staircase, you just climb it."
"I don't like the look of this place."said Josefina.
"Well, you did bring your smelling salts with you, didn't you?"asked Aida excitedly. "You are just so…fearful, Josefina. With an attitude like that, it's no wonder you miss out on most of the joys of life."
"And you are just too brash, Aida."said Jasmine.
"Oh, well, can you blame me?"
"I don't know if I can."
They got to the laboratory.
"This is where Jafar first rubbed my lamp."said Genie, looking around. "I thought it was Al, and then I turned around and realized it wasn't Al. That was when he wished to become sultan."
"But Jafar wasn't supposed to be in the Palace then. I send the guards after him."said Hamed.
"He must have hidden here."said Aladdin.
"Yes. You don't supposed there must be some kind of teleportation device? That must have been how he got here after he wished to become a genie."
"Ah, teleportation!"exclaimed Aida. "That would be so cool! If only! Iago?"she turned.
"I don't think so. Jafar liked to travel."
"Oh."Aida's face fell. "Well, I guess one learns more by traveling than teleporting."
"Yes. It was on one of his travels that I met him."
"Oh?"
"Where?"
"Well, it was somewhere in the desert. I can't exactly recall. I was kind of weak then. That's where he taught me that power and wealth are the two most important things in the world, see. And of, course, not just power, like a sultan's power, but rather, power, like, well, this kind of power, too."
He gestured all around the laboratory.
"I guess those are two distinctive powers."said Francisco.
"Oh, dear! What a dreadful, twisted mind! He must have been a quite unhappy person, with no knowledge of God, or anything good! Perhaps going to church, reading a Bible, attending mass, could have done this man a world of good."said Josefina.
"I don't think anything could have done Jafar any good, Josefina."said Jasmine. "He was always rather power-hungry. He would always manage to convince Father what decisions to make and so forth."
"And to think I always agreed."said Hamed, shaking his head.
"It wasn't your fault! Jafar was using the snake staff to control you. We know that now."
"Yes, but how could I have been so unintelligent, as to not notice Jafar's true intentions all the time."
Hamed shook his head.
"Well, I don't think anybody did, really."said Aida. "I just never liked him. Just because…I don't know. I just never did. And, well, that doesn't mean I know he was evil. I just didn't like him, is all."
She shrugged.
"So Jafar worked for you?"Francisco asked.
"He was my most trusted advisor. However, we realized that he was actually plotting against me."
"Oh. Well, that can happen to just about anyone. I mean, you could trust one person, only to realize that they're actually, well, malevolent. I remember an uncle, who used to trust this one man, beyond any other, and it turned out that thanks to this man, he almost lost everything!"
"Yes. It can happen to anyone."said Jasmine, trying to comfort her father.
"Well, the important thing is that you realized this man's true intentions, and got rid of him."
"Only after he had done much harm."said Hamed.
"Why didn't you tell us about this place, Iago?"Aladdin demanded.
"Well, I just never thought of it, is all."
"No, it wasn't!"said Ali. "I found you in here."
Aladdin grabbed Iago.
"You've been bringing the children in here behind everyone's back!"he yelled at Iago.
"It's a very neat place."said Sabdullah.
"I…haven't."said Iago speaking with difficulty, as Aladdin's grip on him was very tight.
"That would explain how they suddenly became friends!"
Genie gasped and immediately went to Ali, and tapped on his head and shook him, before turning into a doctor.
"These children haven't been possessed, have they?"he asked.
"What have you done to them, Iago!"Aladdin demanded of him.
Iago gasped for breath, as Aladdin released him.
"I haven't done anything. I just thought to hide in here, from them, and suddenly, without my being aware of it, the kid followed me and came across the place."
"Why didn't you tell me about this place, as soon as you found it, Ali?"Aladdin asked him.
"Iago told me not to."
Aladdin shot a murderous glance at Iago.
"I just…didn't want to torment you guys with memories of Jafar, or anything. I mean, everyone was just so happy."
"Why didn't you tell us when Jafar came back."
"Well, I just couldn't, you know. He was manipulating me!"
"What about after?"
"Well, you guys were all planning the wedding and everything. I figured, what good was it? Jafar was gone, and there was just no point. I just wanted to forget about it all."
"That's true, Aladdin."said Jasmine.
"Besides, we can't afford to get rid of all these books and everything. I should be able to find out how to work the spells."said Aida.
"No one is going to learn how to work anything!"said Aladdin. "These books are going to be burned, along with everything else in this lab."
"NO!"exclaimed Aida, Ali, and Sabdullah.
"Now, now, Aladdin. Magic isn't evil, it's just the people who use it that are evil. Oh, Jasmine…"
She looked imploringly at her sister, to help her change Aladidn's mind.
"I must say,"began Jasmine. "I don't believe in magic, but..."she looked around.
"What more proof do you need? See, some of these spells might come in handy. Like this one. You can create water, you can see into people's minds, you can make them see what you want them to see, oh, look, plants with magical properties!"
"That one was just one of the ones Jafar used to find your beloved brother-in-law. So, in a way, I'm guessing if it hadn't been for Jafar, you wouldn't have Aladdin for a brother-in-law, would you? I mean, it was thanks to the Genie, a lot of it, and that was thanks to Jafar."said Iago, hoping that perhaps with that argument Aladdin would cool down with him.
"Well, I do know one thing. Fine, I'll think about what to do with the books. However, you have some explaining to do, Iago."said Aladdin. "I want to know EXACTLY how Jafar found out about the lamp. I want to know everything."