Chapter 17: Teeth
Jasmine heard the explosion of magic and the partial collapse of the lighthouse before she saw it. The way it shook the ground beneath them caused Abu to shriek.
"Abu, we have to get to the other entrance. Hurry!"
The two of them ran to the underground entrance to the lighthouse, but Jasmine gasped as she saw the way they wanted to go quickly flooded with water. Darkness had already settled over the horizon. It was hard to see anything inside. She lit a torch from the supplies in her pack, peering into the water logged pathway to see if there was any movement at all. A sudden yell startled both her and Abu, chilling them to their core as it echoed along the walls of the submerged path.
To Jasmine, it didn't sound like the scream of a man at all. More like a monster.
"Aladdin?" Abu asked, looking up at Jasmine in confusion.
"That definitely wasn't him, but I'm wondering if it was the thief. If Remi was right, maybe the thief really is a monster." Jasmine held up the torch, her eyes scanning the water for any signs of life. "Nothing here. Wonder if there's another way in."
Abu whistled, motioning Jasmine to follow him. The monkey sniffed for a place that didn't smell as damp or overrun with water. Another loud rumble sounded, and it didn't take Jasmine long to realize that more of the lighthouse had collapsed. Her breath hitched as another yell sounded, one more familiar to her ears than the one before it. And it wasn't that far away from where they were.
Aladdin, we're coming. Hold on.
Abu whistled, catching Jasmine's attention as he found another path to take, leading underground. It was a crawlspace that Abu could easily fit through, but Jasmine wasn't sure if she could follow as quickly.
"Abu, do you think you can get to Aladdin from here? I might be too slow following you in to help any. If it helps, I'll stay here and hold the light to help guide you out."
Abu gave a quick salute to her, before rushing in as fast as he could through the path. Jasmine only hoped that Aladdin could make it to them - as far from the thief as possible.
Aladdin hadn't expected the blast from the magic vial Ezele gave him to be so powerful, but it did its job in providing a welcome distraction. The area filled with a red, cloying magic mist that made it hard to see. At the same time, Aziz lost his balance, knocking his magic blast off balance and causing the ground beneath them to break open. The underground passage beneath them was overrun with water, with more steadily pouring in.
Parts of the lighthouse's interior fell into the water with Aziz, who howled in protest as he disappeared beyond Aladdin's sight. Aladdin struggled then to get his leg free from the broken pieces of the staircase that pinned him down. The skin at his lower leg, close to his ankle, was rubbed raw and bleeding. That was the least of his worries, despite the pain.
He had two dark fates waiting for him. One was Aziz finding and destroying him without a second thought. The other was more Aladdin's immediate concern - being trapped underwater and unable to breathe.
Aladdin managed to hold his breath as he continued to work his leg out from the large stone slab that trapped him. He saw it shift with the rushing water, giving him what he needed to wiggle free. His open wound stung in the salty water, but at least his leg weren't broken. He could swim, but it wouldn't be easy.
Something else caught his eye as he was underwater, a glimmer that he would have missed if he'd been too eager to surface. He grabbed for it by instinct, realizing what it was the moment it was in his palm.
The key! Aziz dropped the key in the middle of everything! What were the chances of that happening? Guess I'll have to figure out what this thing really is.
Aladdin placed the key safely in the sack that remained at his side, before quickly moving upward to find a space to breathe above water.
He gasped for air as he found a part of the underground passage that wasn't flooded. He surveyed the area around him, realizing he was going the wrong way - further into the branching path rather than to the outside where he came in.
But before Aladdin could turn the other direction, a magic cloud - likely from breath magic - rushed towards him. He moved out of the way just before it collided and exploded against the wall behind him. The collision shook the area violently, causing a cave in. Aladdin struggled to swim out of the paths of several falling rocks, barely clearing some of the hurdles because of his injured leg.
"Now you can't go out the same way you came in, street rat!" Aziz's voice echoed through the underground area. Aladdin looked around, but he couldn't see Aziz in his line of sight as he found a cluster of dry rocks to climb onto. Aziz wasn't bothering to hide either his identity or his irritation. "You might have eluded me back there, but I'll make sure that your grave remains here."
"Great, he's mad," Aladdin muttered under his breath. It was hard to see in the dark turns of the path, let alone with areas that were flooded by water from the ocean beyond. But Aladdin quickly realized that Aziz hadn't been quick to pursue him. Which meant that Aziz wasn't aware that the key was no longer his. But once he found out...
Aladdin looked around the area, trying to see if there were any noticeable exits or hiding places he could use to his advantage. But as he began to move, a hand reached from beneath the surface of the water, wrapped around the raw skin of his injured leg. Aladdin yelled, even as Aziz laughed.
"Not much of a hero now, are you?" Aziz taunted, grinning wide as his grip tightened on Aladdin's leg. "If I can sneak up on you like this so easily, then you've definitely lost your street edge. A pampered prince, indeed."
"Not so pampered for the likes of you, Aziz," Aladdin said through his teeth. "Get off me!" Aladdin used his other leg to kick Aziz as hard as he could, the prince's boot connecting with the side of Aziz's head. It was enough for Aladdin to escape his grasp, but the wound stung so badly that Aladdin had a hard time focusing on what to do next, other than getting away. He rolled off the rock he was on, choosing instead to swim, and fought the urge to yell at the pain that went through him as he moved through the water.
There has to be a place I hide, enough to enough to use Ezele's healing vial, he thought. If I can manage to distance myself enough from Aziz, I can make time to use it. But while that was the strongest thought he had, he wasn't sure what would come after that. There was no visible way out of the area.
Except.
A flicker in the distance lit a path he hadn't seen before. Was someone outside? Or had Aziz left a torchlight outside when he came in? Still, there was another path out - probably from a part of the underground path that collapsed from Aziz using his magic.
That's where I need to get to. Aladdin had a goal, part of plan that involved getting back to Gloloria as soon as possible.
Abu made sure to keep himself hidden as he navigated the dark twists and turns of the underground passage. Jasmine had stayed behind, holding the torch in a way that made it easier for him to see how to move around. But the light's reach only went so far. The monkey moved through the darkness with increasing anxiety. His fur stood up when he heard a familiar yell a short distance ahead. The other voice, which Abu had not heard in many moons, made Abu want to throw up.
"I knew someone had to have helped you. Your wound hasn't completely healed but it almost made it so that you nearly escaped." Aziz's voice was something that Abu did not expect to hear ever again, not since the last time Aladdin banished the thief. Abu, like Aladdin, had thought it was for good. Not so much the case as Aziz didn't bother to disguise himself anymore.
"You never said that other people giving me helpful magic was one of the restrictions in the thief's game. You only singled out those you knew who would," Aladdin snapped. "One of the many ways you've been cheating this whole time." Abu saw Aladdin just barely in the distance, suspended upside down in the air above the water where the passage had flooded. The prince was held captive as Aziz held his left hand clenched into a fist, surrounded with glowing magic. It was the only way the monkey could make out exactly where they both were in the darkness. Abu didn't remember Aziz having this much power before. Usually it was only through his breath magic, given to him after being trapped in the Destiny Stone, that Aziz could work twisted and random tricks.
Where was his extraordinary power coming from?
"Cheating, you say?" Aziz said. "Oh, I only wanted to see how you did against the challenges I put against you. But now look at you, Aladdin. Walking into an obvious trap with no one to save you. As per our bargain, I've let your Genie and Carpet go, but they have their own challenges to overcome in my lair."
Aladdin's jaw clenched. "That wasn't part of the deal!"
"No, but the challenge wasn't meant to defeat them, only to give me time enough to kill you." Aziz's smile widened. "Speaking of which, I didn't want to use magic to kill you, but you've proven to be much more of a nuisance than expected. Your luck has carried you so far, but no longer. " The magic around Aziz's fist glowed brighter, and Abu cringed as Aladdin's scream of pain echoed through the underground passage.
Abu looked around the area briefly, tried to see if there was anything he could do to help Aladdin escape. A glimmer of something caught his eye a distance away. It was hidden a fair distance from where Aziz and Aladdin were standing. He recognized it as the pack Aladdin was carrying just before they left Gloloria. He scurried over to it, hiding behind large rocks as he did so. He rummaged through the bag, only to find a vial with blue liquid and a weirdly shaped key. Abu didn't know what they were for, but he could only think they were somehow valuable enough for Aladdin to hold onto them.
Aladdin stopped screaming as soon as Aziz relented his attack. "Had enough, your highness?"
Aladdin groaned, but looked at Aziz with disgust. "You're the worst. But maybe you shouldn't be trying to kill me if you don't have what you think you have."
Aziz scoffed. "What do you mean by that?"
"Did you happen to lose something during the cave-in back there? Something like a key?"
Aziz used his other hand to probe his pockets and cloak, realizing that he was missing something. The thief's eyes widened with shock. Abu realized the key he held in his paws was the one Aladdin referred to. The monkey shoved the vial and the key back in the sack, trying to pull it to where he could get it as far away as possible. The sack was too heavy to move, however. The monkey kept trying even as he heard Aladdin and Aziz talking.
Aziz's voice roared in a way that made Abu flinch. "Did you steal the key?!"
Aladdin smiled a little. "I didn't steal anything. You lost it, but I know where you dropped it."
"TELL ME!"
Aladdin shrugged casually. "Guess if you want to know, you'll have to let me go."
Aziz snarled, but his expression smoothed over quickly in a way that caught Aladdin and Abu by surprise. "Looks like I'll have to be more creative in order to loosen your tongue. I think I can spare some dark magic to do it. Maybe not to kill you, but to make you wish you were."
Aziz took a long intake of breath, before blowing out magic which became a cluster of flying monsters. They looked even more sinister than bats, with long sharp talons at the ends of their hands and feet, and long hooked teeth that resembled the fangs of a snake.
Aladdin's eyes widened with horror at the sight of them. Abu clamped both of his paws over his mouth to keep from screeching with alarm. Neither Aladdin nor Aziz had noticed his hiding place.
"I should let you know that these creatures have a poisonous bite to humans, and it involves a very painful reaction before death. They won't bite you now, however. That would take a bit more motivation. But I can command them to carve out as much of your flesh as it takes for you to give me the location of the key. So what will it be?"
Aladdin's brow narrowed, he struggled to move against the vice grip of Aziz's power, but nothing appeared to give way.
"Silence, is it? I'll take that as a 'no'." Aziz snapped his fingers. "Have at him, my children."
The cluster of flying monsters howled before they rushed at Aladdin, clawing at his clothes and face. Aladdin tried to avoid them, but there were too many of them to avoid. When they made their way to claw at his flesh, he screamed.
"Aladdin! Aladdin!" Abu cried, but the screams of the monsters drowned out the monkey's voice. Aziz hadn't even heard Abu, his attention focused on Aladdin so intently that Abu realized that his former master was using his magic to control the monsters. The monkey wasn't sure what to do to help, but before Abu could come up with a plan, the Prince shouted a response.
"Okay! Okay! I'll tell you!"
"Very good." The cluster of monsters drew away from Aladdin as Aziz spoke. "Now, tell me where the key is, street rat."
Abu watched as Aladdin's breath hitched, his tunic torn to shreds and bloody scratches scattered in places on his arms, torso and legs. A set of three cuts that oozed blood marred Aladdin's cheek as he winced. "It's back along the path where the lighthouse collapsed. Blocked off from where we are now."
Abu knew Aladdin was lying, but Aziz seemed none the wiser. Instead, Abu's former master grew more angry.
"How does that help me? You mean you saw it and you left it behind?!"
"Never said that I had it with me. Seemed like the kind of thing that I should keep away from you at all costs. Unless you want to tell me what you're going to use it for."
Aziz's eyes flashed with a spark of red. "I'm the one asking the questions! It's none of your business."
Aladdin stared defiantly at Aziz, though his expression was pained. "In that case, you can search for it yourself."
"YOU'RE DEAD!" Aziz shouted, preparing to take another large breath. Abu knew then that was his moment to act. Before Aziz could blow out any magic, Abu scurried over to his former master, biting Aziz's arm as hard as he could. Aziz coughed, spreading a cloud of magic that surrounded him quickly. Abu managed to get away from the cloud before it could cling to him.
"You stupid monkey! I should have known!" Aziz began, but his attention quickly turned to the flying monsters, his expression one of horror. Instead of focusing on Aladdin, the monsters had turned their attention to Aziz. The magic cloud, as Abu assumed correctly, had meant to surround Aladdin and draw their attention to their next meal. As the monsters surrounded Aziz, they started biting him at any place they could find.
"Ow, OW! Get off of me! You're supposed to be attacking him! Him!" Aziz shouted as he tried to fight off the monsters. He was so overwhelmed with fighting back against their claws and teeth that his magic released Aladdin, dropping the prince abruptly into the deepest part of the flood water.
"Aladdin! Aladdin!" Abu shouted as he saw the prince go under the water. One second. Two seconds. Three seconds passed. The moment Abu thought Aladdin wouldn't surface, he did, gasping for air. The prince recovered his breath quickly, but winced as the salty water stung his fresh wounds.
"This way, this way!" Abu cried, motioning with a paw for Aladdin to follow to where the water was more shallow. Aladdin did, pushing himself to swim in the same direction until he reached a set of rocks he could pull himself up upon. The prince managed to pull himself out of the water, before collapsing on the dry surface of stones and sand.
"Aladdin! No, no." Abu reached his side, but the prince was only trying to catch his breath as his eyes closed. He lay on his back, looking up at Abu as the monkey appeared in his vision.
"You saved me back there, pal. How did you...?" Abu interrupted, screeching a series of statements that Aladdin quickly understood. "Yeah, right. Better to get out of here first and then ask questions. Aziz can deal with the fallout from his own magic. One more thing though - you know how we can leave this place?"
"Uh huh." Abu nodded. He pointed in two directions, one with the sack containing Aladdin's belongings, the other the pathway out.
Aladdin recognized the sack almost immediately. "Thought I lost it for good, that Aziz would get to it before I did. Thanks Abu." Aladdin managed to get to his feet, grabbing the sack and shouldering it in a way that would be less of a burden to his bruises and wounds. He checked it briefly, making sure everything in it was still in one piece before nodding to his friend. "Lead the way."
Jasmine saw Abu and Aladdin step in range of the torch's light. She waved to them both. But her relief turned to alarm when just before Aladdin reached the crawl space to get out of the underground passage, he fell to his knees and slumped to the sands.
"Aladdin! Hang on!" Jasmine had trouble crawling through the space with her torch, but she managed to get through after a bit, rushing over to where Aladdin had fallen. Abu screeched with concern, reaching Aladdin's side before she did.
Aladdin held his side with one hand, the other held out to keep himself from falling face first to the sand. Jasmine saw the extent of how badly wounded Aladdin was, gasping as she saw him. "Oh Aladdin, those wounds are terrible."
Aladdin looked up at her, his voice rough from exhaustion. "I didn't know you were here too, Jasmine."
"Of course I would be. Abu and I followed you from the city. We wanted to make sure you didn't..." She realized there was no point in saying the obvious. She picked up that Aladdin understood it, changed the direction of the conversation. "Who did this to you? The thief?"
Aladdin nodded. "Not a surprising thing when your old enemy tries to kill you. Abu arrived just in time" He groaned, rolling his eyes as his tone grew annoyed. "Aziz. This whole time it was Aziz."
Jasmine's mouth dropped open. "That's who I was thinking of before! I can't believe we didn't recognize him."
"We didn't recognize him because he didn't want to be recognized." Aladdin shook his head as Jasmine helped him to his feet. "He was using his magic to disguise his voice and our recognition of him. Haven't seen him use this level of magic before. There's gotta be something to it, but I don't know what it is. Wouldn't doubt it has to do with what he was using for the thief's game. The game might be over, but his command of that magic isn't."
"Uh huh." Abu agreed quickly.
Before Jasmine could say anything more, Aladdin gently put a finger against her lips. "I know you have questions, but we need to get out of here. Aziz was right behind us. Genie and Carpet might be in trouble and we need to get back to Gloloria as soon as we can." Aladdin shifted the sack at his side, pulling out a vial of blue liquid. "Abu, catch."
Abu readied himself as Aladdin tossed the vial to the monkey. A few shifts to the side, and Abu was able to catch it easily. "Pour that on the sand. Make sure you empty the whole thing."
"Okay!" Abu quickly obeyed the instructions. At first, nothing happened but a blue line staining the sand by Abu's feet. But then, the line of blue began to glow, opening a shimmering hole in the ground that alarmed the monkey, making him step back from it as it opened into a path. There wasn't any visible way to tell where it led to, but Aladdin looked relieved as he looked upon it.
"Looks like that's the portal to take us back to Gloloria. Ezele was right about it."
"I know that Ezele gave you things to help you when you left town, but I didn't realize that was one of them," Jasmine said.
"Yeah, they came in handy. Would have had more of the healing potion to use, but Aziz broke the vial while I was trying to heal one of my wounds. He showed up out of nowhere and captured me." Aladdin pointed to his lower leg, which was almost healed. Jasmine could tell that there had been something serious by the way his pant's leg was torn, but the skin of it was slightly reddened. "Could have used it to treat all of these other surface wounds."
Jasmine frowned as she watched Aladdin wince. "Those don't look like surface wounds to me. Some of them look pretty deep." She put a hand on the smooth skin of his face, cupping his cheek in contrast to the harsh, bloody claw marks on Aladdin's other one. "We need to see Ezele right away when we get back."
Aladdin hesitated, but reluctantly agreed. "Guess so. We need to hurry." Aladdin and Jasmine turned to look at Abu, who studied the portal with hesitation.
"It's safe Abu. Go on, you can jump into it."
"Okay, okay." Abu said, though he still looked like he'd rather do anything else. The monkey did his best to muster up his courage before stepping to the edge of the circular portal in the ground, which looked like what Genie called a pothole. "Look out below!" Abu screeched before jumping without hesitation into the portal. Aladdin and Jasmine heard the echo of Abu's screech before it disappeared entirely.
"Guess that's how it works," Aladdin said with a sheepish grin, before turning to the princess. "Come on, let's go. Ezele said once it's opened, it won't be long before it closes."
"I don't think you two are going anywhere." The voice startled both Aladdin and Jasmine, as they turned abruptly to see Aziz, who stumbled towards them. "We have some unfinished business."
"You," Jasmine began, but stopped abruptly as Aladdin angled his body in front of her as if to protect her.
"Oh, hello Princess Jasmine. Long, long time. Nice to see you again as well." Aziz's voice had no warmth in a way that was similar to Aladdin's own from earlier. "You're just in time to witness the moment you become a widow. How unfortunate."
"Aziz," Aladdin warned, not missing the obvious threat to him. "You've already lost the thief's game, what more do you want?"
"I should think it's obvious. I want two things - to destroy you. But before that, I want the key you took from me." Aziz's somewhat cheerful expression turned to a sneer. "I know you lied to me, Aladdin. Hand it over. Now, or else." Aziz let the last part of his command linger long in the breeze between them. Jasmine wanted to throw the torch she held at Aladdin's enemy, but she knew to hold back because she didn't want Aladdin to be hurt.
"No, I won't. And in case it isn't obvious, let me state it plainly. I gave you the key, but you lost it on your own. So you can't challenge me in saying that I didn't follow the rules. Plus, I know your name now. It's over, the game is totally and completely over." Aladdin's back stiffened as he started to step forward. Jasmine placed one of her hand at the sides of his arm, careful not to touch the scratches on his skin. Some of them were still fresh wounds, though bloodless. The action stopped Aladdin from moving more towards where Aziz stood.
"Well that may be true, but the game ending does not prevent me from killing you. And I asked soo nicely." Aziz took a long inhale of breath before he blew out a stream of magic, hurling what looked like a boulder right towards where Aladdin and Jasmine stood.
"Get down!" Aladdin said, using his body to protect Jasmine as the fell to the ground near the portal. Thankfully, the boulder passed over their heads, but it went hurdling into the portal behind them. Jasmine winced, hoping that it wouldn't hurt anyone who wasn't expecting it in Gloloria.
"You all right?" Aladdin asked, recovering faster than Jasmine did as he stood and offered her his hand. His attention didn't stray from Aziz, who looked so furious at the missed opportunity to harm them both that his face turned red. It looked like he was preparing for another attack against them.
Jasmine noticed the flicker of the portal before any of them - a signal that likely meant it was about to close. Her heart ached at what would happen if both she and Aladdin would do if they were trapped here. Genie and Carpet had no signs of showing up, there was nothing that any of them could do to fight against Aziz's powerful magic, nothing to outwit their old enemy either. With Aladdin's injuries, he was in no condition to fight Aziz.
Jasmine both knew - and dreaded - what she needed to do next. She hoped that Aladdin would eventually forgive her. But for the moment, it was all she could do.
"I'm okay," she said, taking Aladdin's hand in hers.
"Good, you should get to the portal before..."
"I'm not going," Jasmine said, her voice firm. "I'm not leaving you here."
Just as he was about to look over his shoulder towards her, Jasmine reacted, she released his hand, moved in front of him as she threw the torch towards Aziz. The edge of Aziz's tunic caught ablaze, making Aziz yelp in a startled cry. Aladdin seemed equally surprised, his brow raised.
"Nice throw, Princess," he started, but as Jasmine stepped forward, she turned to face him. She barely had the chance to tell him that she was sorry before she shoved both of her hands against his chest, making him lose his balance. She knew the moment he realized what she'd done and why, the expression of hurt and fear in his eyes as he fell would be in her memory for a long moment after that. But it was all worth it if she saved him. This time.
"Jasmine!" Aladdin screamed as his voice echoed through the portal, just before it closed.