Chapter 14: A Choice of Magic
Aziz paced around his lair, clearly agitated by the turn of events. He'd allowed himself the luxury of removing his thick, tattered robes and human disguising in order to recover some of his magic, which had been used to excess and left him winded. Not to mention being in the middle of the desert beneath all those layers of fabric was far too hot to tolerate. "I wanted the stakes to be higher for Aladdin in this game, and THIS is what I get out of it? His stupid rug?!" He looked up at the amber crystal prison in which Carpet was trapped within. The magic carpet was under the same sleeping spell that Aziz had placed under his other captives in the first round of the game, but it didn't ease any of the man-turned-monster's fury.
"I need something to change the dynamic of this game and quickly. I've certainly put a good amount of fear over the town and Aladdin's group, but my influence is quickly waning. They knew I was going after that archivist and thwarted my plans. Ugh. Perhaps I made it too obvious." Aziz sat cross-legged on a rock, his spindly legs dangling a little off the ground. "What to do, what to do," he mused.
He thought for a long moment, staring at the shimmering crystal ahead of him. He knew he had to adhere to the rules of the game now, moreso since Aladdin had caught on to several things - the curse, the ability to null the terms of the game among other things. He could say what he would about the former street rat-turned-prince - Aladdin had as quick a wit as Aziz remembered. Too quick for his liking.
Revenge had a certain allure. He wanted desperately to knock Aladdin's confidence away, make the brat pay for his past encounters with him. Details of his plan started to unfurl like the petals of a desert flower in his mind - tentative at first, but then opening fully. His eyes went wide as he realized the obvious upper hand he had. The Deathseeker had been just one monstrous thing in the history of Gloloria, but he had heard of another tale that was generations older. He would have to make a return to the archive. If the tale he was thinking of was indeed true, then he knew exactly what kind of test to put Aladdin through and the reward that would follow. He didn't just need to change the test, but also remove the one barrier that prevented him from ruling over the town. That barrier was also the one Aladdin kept testing the boundaries of within the game.
"YES. Oh, this will certainly test him. Why did I not think of this sooner?" Aziz clapped his hands together, his grin twisting his features. "Tonight will indeed be one of darkness in your dreams. Be prepared, Aladdin. Let's see whether you are capable of surviving in a test where you have no magic to help you."
Aladdin sat up slowly in his bed, blinking the blur of sleep from his vision and trying to calm his nerves as much as he could.
Abu stirred just as Aladdin groaned, his fingers threading through his hair to push it away from his face. Many of the strands that hung limply across his brow were damp with sweat. "If there's one thing I don't wanna get used to having, it's nightmares. Last night definitely had its share. Can't remember them, but definitely remember how creepy they were."
"Oh no, no, no," Abu screeched, his tail curling loosely around Aladdin's neck as he scurried up Aladdin's back to perch on his shoulder.
"It's weird, Abu. My nightmares otherwise have been crystal clear since I've been in Gloloria. Last night's was the first one that was all a blur. Wonder if it has anything to do with the curse."
"Curse?" Abu tilted his head, confused at first. Then the monkey appeared to remember the conversation from last night in Remi's archive, and began screeching in a panic.
But Aladdin was calmer than his friend. "Genie and I tried last night. Turns out I'm under the same curse as Remi. The thief doesn't want me to remember. Wait a minute." Aladdin's eyes widened as he realized something important. He turned to Abu, at first hesitating on whether he should ask the question, but quickly deciding it was worth the risk. "Abu, do you remember any monsters we encountered that used breath magic? Had to be early on, when you and I were still living on the streets of Agrabah. Someone who knew about the thief games."
Abu thought for a long moment, his paw resting under his chin as he readjusted his perch on Aladdin's shoulder. Then the monkey's face lit up with recognition, but as he turned to screech his thoughts, his cheerful expression vanished quickly to one of confusion. Abu didn't have to say anything for Aladdin to know what happened.
"You have the same curse we do, then. Don't think you need to have Genie put you through that horrible test to know though. It's obvious," Aladdin rolled his eyes and groaned. His hands balled into fists at his sides. "What a mess this all is."
"Oh bother," Abu said, frowning and folding his arms across his chest.
"Well, no use waiting around here for answers." He swung his legs over the side of the bed. "Maybe while we're in the middle of doing everything today, we'll remember something. Let's hope that's enough."
As Aladdin finished updating Jasmine on the previous night's events, she stopped walking alongside him on Gloloria's beach. She struggled with her thoughts, trying to see if there was anything she could think of to help Aladdin in the scope of the game.
"Princess?" Aladdin asked, stopping alongside her as they stood at the water's edge.
"I can't wrap my mind on who this would be," she admitted. "Abu could have told you if he wasn't under the curse. Are you certain the thief is someone I would know? Or Genie? Same with Iago."
Aladdin hesitated a moment before he spoke, seeming less confident than he'd once been. "That I'm still not sure. This whole time it felt like he knew who you guys were because he made it clear he'd target you if I crossed him. But he could have figured things out; word gets around fast. Still, someone with that strong of a grudge..." His words trailed off as he thought more, folding his arms across his chest. "I don't get any of this, Jasmine. I'm trying, but I should have figured this out long before now."
She used her hands to cup the sides of Aladdin's face. "You'll find the thief's real identity. I'm sure of it. Even if he is cheating, you'll find a way. Just takes thinking outside of the box a little."
Aladdin took her hands in his, kissing the tops of them lightly. "I know."
Before the couple could go in for a more direct kiss, a voice called out to Aladdin from the distance, surprising both of them. Aladdin looked over his shoulder to see Arzin running toward them. He didn't look happy to say the least.
"My brother's in a face-off with the thief at his hut. The thief's trying to get to Remi."
"What?!" Aladdin and Jasmine said at once. Though Jasmine was faster to follow up. "Not again! Where's Genie?"
Arzin scowled. "Hoped he was with one of you. Haven't seen him since this morning at the archive when he was deactivating the traps."
"If the thief's at Ezele's hut, then we can't afford to waste time," Aladdin said. "We can catch Genie up later. Lead the way, Arzin."
"I'm coming with you," Jasmine said. Aladdin didn't argue it. Arzin looked like he wanted to, but remained silent as he turned and ran in the direction he'd come from.
Arzin, Aladdin and Jasmine ran in the direction of Ezele's treatment hut, where Ezele took a defensive stance against the masked thief just outside the door to the hut. He held two vials of colorful liquid, presumably magic potions he'd revealed from underneath his cloak. From what Aladdin and Jasmine could tell, it appeared that those vials were not the only ones that had been used. And from Ezele's booming voice, he'd been beyond fed up with the thief's approach.
"First you try to take my daughter away from me, and now you try to take one of our village's most esteemed scholars? I refuse to let you have your way, fiend! Stay back, or I'll throw more of these in your direction."
Jasmine realized that Ezele had chased the thief out of the hut. Which meant Remi was very close to being captured by the thief yet again. The thief must be desperate if he's trying this many times to get to Remi, Jasmine thought. I hope Remi's okay. He must be really scared going through this again. Good thing Ezele was able to buy us some time.
To their surprise, the thief appeared to keep his distance from the magic medic, which meant he was more afraid of those vials than he let on. But the teasing tone of the thief's voice was unmistakable. "I didn't realize the primary healer of this town could be so...combative. Perhaps you could have used that kind of tactic with the Deathseeker without having to rely on a stranger brat from Agrabah who can't use magic."
"That's enough, thief!" Aladdin shouted, prompting attention from the thief and Ezele both. The thief laughed in response.
"Oh, the boy wonder decides to finally show. What exactly is it do you hope to do to stop me from collecting another player in our game? Especially since you have an idea of what's at stake."
While Jasmine was worried about how the thief's words would affect Aladdin, the prince showed no signs of backing down. Jasmine hadn't seen Aladdin this angry in a while, and Aladdin's tone said it all as he spoke through gritted teeth. "I have had it with you using my friends and allies as pawns! You tell me the rules, you expect me to follow them and then punish me and those I care about. But you've cheated your way through everything - all up to this point! Tell me, how is that fair?!"
The thief turned his attention to Aladdin fully. "You think you've played fair? You've lied just as much as I have."
"I'm not responsible for what you choose to misinterpret for not checking things thoroughly. And I don't use magic. Or curses for that matter." Aladdin snapped. "You know exactly what I'm talking about."
The thief snorted. "Indeed I do. Matter of fact, I can show you exactly what I mean by your lack of power compared to mine."
Jasmine saw the beginning of an attack before anyone did as the thief moved one of his hands from behind his back, a ball of magic nestled in his palm. "Aladdin, look out!"
Ezele tried to throw one of the vials of liquid at the thief to stop him, but the thief sidestepped the smoky attack with ease, aiming the magic ball to hit Aladdin fully on. But Jasmine shoved Aladdin out of the path of the blast, which hit the sand harmlessly between them. Both the Prince and Princess fell to the ground.
"Jasmine, you okay?" Aladdin said, raising himself up on his elbows from where he lay afterward.
"I'm good. That was close," Jasmine said.
Aladdin sounded as relieved as Jasmine felt. "Thanks for that."
"Aww, the lovebirds always step in to protect each other. Makes me sick," the thief said, starting off with a mocking tone before revealing his honest thoughts about their relationship.
Arzin chose to intervene in that moment, unsheathing a dagger at his side from beneath his cloak. "What's sick is the way you continue your obsession with our home. I will cut you down!"
"Arzin, stop!" Ezele protested, but the thief spared no moment to use his magic to stop Arzin's advance, making the man drop his dagger and raising his body in mid-air like a rag doll. Arzin struggled against the invisible grip that held him, but to no avail.
"You were a potentially great puppet, until you weren't," the thief taunted. "I suppose you do truly belong with the likes of your brother." He used his magic to throw Arzin's body, which collided with Ezele's and made them both hit the ground in front of the hut with a hard thud.
"Now where was I?" The thief said, turning back to Aladdin and Jasmine as Aladdin helped her to her feet. "I believe I was in the business of acknowledging who my next piece in the game would be."
"INCOMING!" Iago shouted at that very moment. Jasmine was relieved to see not only Iago and Abu approaching from a distance, but also Genie bringing up the rear behind them.
"Man, I'm always late for the party," Genie complained. "I've gotta start showing up when I know there's an evil party present. Makes it hard to attend without the cake and balloons."
Jasmine resisted the urge to roll her eyes at Genie's joke, but smiled. "Perfect timing, Genie!" she called.
But the way the thief agreed with her both chilled Jasmine and Aladdin to their cores. "Yes, I would agree this is perfect timing...for my change of plans."
Jasmine didn't pick up on what the thief was doing, but Aladdin definitely did. "Guys! Get out of the way!" Before Jasmine could stop him, Aladdin ran straight for the thief, hoping to keep the villain from firing off another magic blast.
As fast as Aladdin was, the thief's reflexes were quicker as he fired a blast that hit Aladdin square in the stomach, causing Aladdin to fall back to the sands. The thief then continued his series of attacks. One was aimed at Iago, who made a dramatic dive to the sand to avoid it. Another was aimed at Abu, which caused the monkey to slide and fall, just barely missing the path of the blast apart from where it skewered part of the fur on his tail.
"Ow, ow, ow!" Abu screeched, blowing off the edge of his tail like it'd caught on fire. (The monkey's tail was - indeed - not on fire. But it still hurt.)
But even as Genie prepared to fire off a magic blast of his own, he wasn't prepared for the massive trap that the thief aimed at him, which surrounded him like a bubble - and hit the semi-powered being in the center of the sphere all at once, like a thousand lightning bolts. Genie screamed, before he - and the bubble - disappeared into thin air.
"Genie!" Aladdin yelled, only then recovering from the thief's attack. But he'd witnessed the whole thing. Jasmine felt her heart sink at the fear in Aladdin's voice as the thief laughed.
"Now that, everyone, is an example of what you call the perfect trap. You see, I lost interest in that little archivist of yours considering how many of you were bending over backwards simply to protect him. But with the Genie now a part of the wager, the ratio of magical friends that you have to help you goes from 2 to 0." The thief turned his attention directly to Aladdin for emphasis. "Get the point, boy?"
"You mean you planned to take Genie?" Jasmine snapped.
"It was a last minute change, but yes," the thief confirmed, shrugging casually without looking in Jasmine's direction. "I was buying time until Genie arrived. But look on the bright side - at least none of Gloloria's citizens are involved in this part of the game. It'll make the stakes that much higher. Until tonight's terms, street rat, farewell." The thief disappeared in a puff of dark smoke, the tendrils of which still lingered in the spot he stood under the afternoon sun.
For something as dark as this to happen in the middle of the day..., Jasmine thought, though her mind didn't finish as she surveyed the scene around her. Abu and Iago still hadn't recovered from the shock of what they'd just witnessed. Arzin and Ezele had recovered their footing, appearing okay, but standing in stunned silence at where Genie and the thief had once been.
Jasmine rushed over to where her husband was. Aladdin only managed to get to his knees, his head bent downward. She couldn't see his face from where she stood behind him.
"Aladdin..." she started, but she couldn't find words to comfort him in the moment, only managing to put her arms around his shoulders, hugging him as she knelt behind him. From the way his hands balled into fists, leaving imprints in the sand from where his fingers clenched together, she knew exactly how he felt.
Late that night, Aladdin lay on his bed while staring at the ceiling in his room at Tani's inn. While his eyes didn't meet his company - Abu curled up on his pillow and Jasmine sitting in a chair by his bedside - his words were directed to them. It was the first time he'd spoken at all since Genie had been captured. "I have to figure out what the thief wants next. It's the only way that I can get Carpet and Genie back at this point."
"You don't have to explain it," Jasmine said. "Abu and I will be here with you. Tani's staying awake tonight as well."
"You don't have to," Aladdin said, meeting Jasmine's eyes as he turned his head towards her.
Jasmine gently took one of his hands in hers. "This is the only thing I know to do. If something goes wrong, you shouldn't be alone. And I'm pretty sure Abu and Tani agree with me. Iago too, though he's already asleep."
"Yeah, yeah." Abu agreed, though while trying to hold off a yawn of his own. All of them were exhausted from the events of the day.
"I still don't understand how the thief was able to trap Genie like that. It looked like magic, but how could it be more powerful than Genie's magic?" Jasmine wondered aloud.
Aladdin groaned. "Can't say I understand it either. Ezele mentioned that since Genie is semi-phenomenal, it means the magic the thief used may have been older or stronger than Genie himself. Or maybe," Aladdin's expression hardened at the next thought. "It may have been a part of the terms of the thief game. Some deal the thief made with someone or something in order to get a higher access of power. But...usually that comes with some kind of cost."
"Such as?" Jasmine asked, one of her brows raised.
"Something big. Can't say what the thief had to give up just to have the power to capture Genie, but any normal human wouldn't be able to access that magic without the wager of life or death. But the thief's not human at all. Not from what I've witnessed." Aladdin recalled the shadowed figure on the night Remi was attacked and nearly fell over the cliff outside the archive. The sight had been brief, but Aladdin could tell beneath the torn robes that the thief wasn't human, despite having a human stature. That was also confirmed with Remi's hazy memory of the magic thief's initial attack.
"Maybe he used to be," Jasmine said without thinking, but something in Aladdin's mind snapped into place at the mention.
"That's...wait." The prince sat up then, his mind in a rush of putting everything he knew together. "Hold that thought, princess. The thief is someone that Abu and I used to know, knew me before, when I was a street rat. He might've been human, and somehow turned into a monster. His magic comes mostly from his breath..." Suddenly Aladdin stopped speaking when a sharp pain seared through his mind like a fresh burn from a fire scorching the skin. He winced, his hands clutching the sheets beneath him. He grit his teeth so hard from the pain that he accidently bit the inside of his cheek, the sharp taste of blood lingered in his mouth.
"Aladdin? Hey!" Aladdin felt Jasmine's hands on his shoulders as he struggled to breathe. When the pain in his head subsided, he looked up at her. He couldn't hide the irritation he felt.
"I had it! I had his name in my head. Just before I could reach for it, it was gone. That's the closest I've been since any other time I've tried."
Jasmine's shoulders fell. "Can't believe you were so close and it had that affect on you. I'm sorry."
Aladdin shook his head. "I'll have to figure out another way to work past the block the thief's imposing. For now, guess we'll have to see what I have to do next." He lay back on the bed closing his eyes as he sighed. He knew he needed to fall asleep - the sooner, the better. Might as well get this over with, he thought.
Abu eyed Aladdin with sympathy, screeching softly. Jasmine used her hand to smooth Aladdin's hair away from his brow. "Be careful, my prince."
Aladdin's voice was a whisper as he drifted off to sleep. "I'll try, princess."