Chapter 21: Dark Deal
Abu held tighter to the key in his paws. He struggled to make sense of what he'd just seen through Aziz's crystal. Between Ezele's family disappearing, the random chaos Aziz's shadow caused through town, and Genie and Carpet dealing with all of it, he didn't know what to think.
He wasn't the only one. Iago was near the monkey with his beak half open. He looked among his friends like he expected them to say something - anything - about the dangerous situation they were in. Remi looked heartbroken - and Abu could understand since the archivist knew Ezele and his family longer than any of them. Jasmine's hands covered her mouth as she stood next to Aladdin, who found more to say than any of them in the moment.
The bitter edge in Aladdin's tone wasn't lost on Abu. "Where did you take them?"
Aziz clapped his hands together. "Looks like I have your attention. But my deal isn't for you. You told me you were done with games. If anything, Aladdin, now you're part of the wager."
Before Aladdin could ask what that meant, Aziz used his breath magic again, taking a deep breath in and blowing it out towards the vines. Aladdin and Jasmine were able to dodge the first ones that tried to grab them, but Iago and Remi were ensnared in the trap along one wall of the path. Remi cried out but gasped as part of the vine wrapped around his mouth.
"I didn't ask to be a prisoner!" Iago managed before part of the vine that pinned him to the wall wrapped around his beak.
Aladdin wasn't prepared for the second attack, which caught him and pulled him in as a prisoner along the opposite wall. Jasmine was the last caught, ensnared next to Aladdin.
When all was said and done, the only one who hadn't been touched by the vines was Abu. And he was painfully made aware of that fact by Aziz's laugh.
"Ah yes, my former monkey. Reunited at last. I shouldn't have to tell you that I'm formally inviting you to a Thief's Game. You certainly know what I'm asking for. Of course, you don't know the rules yet."
"Why you..." Abu started, but Jasmine's voice made him stop.
"Don't listen to him, Abu, it's a trap. He's only trying to..." Jasmine stopped as a piece of the moving vine wrapped, tightening around her neck.
"Don't." Aladdin warned through his teeth, staring at Aziz. It was surprising to Abu, considering Aziz was the one who had an advantage in the moment to harm all of them. But something about Aladdin's tone made it clear that he knew something the others didn't. Aziz knew it too. After a silent moment between them, Aziz scoffed as he snapped his fingers. The vine loosened, allowing Jasmine to breathe comfortably again.
"You would do well to stay out of this, Princess," Aziz warned. Or I really will break your neck without a second thought. At least your husband knows to hold his tongue."
Aladdin looked at Jasmine with concern. "I hate saying it, but this is on Abu for right now."
Remi frowned. "If the games are only among thieves, and Aziz was so eager to keep things secret with you, Aladdin, why are we hearing whatever terms he wants now?"
Aladdin's brows narrowed. "Part of the show. Not all of the games have to be secret. In Agrabah at the Thieves Den, during the few times I was a part of them, it was in front of a crowd. Depends on what the wager is. The more dangerous it was, the more 'riches' promised - whatever it might be, the more attention it got."
"So I'm feeling a little generous right now," Aziz said, ignoring the group and focusing solely on Abu. Abu had to swallow against the lump in his throat. "I will give you two options to fulfill the terms of this game. You can either meet me at my lair by nightfall and give me the key. Or," Aziz gave a dramatic pause as Abu scowled at him. "You can find the treasure for me and bring back both the key and treasure at once. Unopened, mind you."
At first, Abu stuck his tongue out at Aziz to show how little he thought of those options. But Aziz's expression hardened as he continued. "Let me inform you of what's at stake if you refuse me. I have several villagers from the town of Gloloria, many of whom you know well and are a part of that medic's family. I have your friends in my grasp as well. To attain the dark magic necessary for my transformation into the next...no, a new and improved Deathseeker, sacrificing a few lives like these are just a small amount. Perhaps I would need to factor in the entire town, to where there's nothing left."
"No!" Remi cried, struggling against the vines that held him. But they only wrapped themselves tighter around him.
"No, no, no," Abu agreed, shaking his head.
Aziz casually shrugged. "Well then, you have a task ahead of you. But I wouldn't send you off by yourself. I want to make it even, fair is fair. Eventually your magic friends will catch up with you. You may or may not need them to get the treasure I'm seeking, but you may need them to get to me in time. I think it's only natural to have another companion to your group to get the job done. Someone who doesn't possess magic. Someone who has ample experience with these kinds of trials." Aziz paused, clenching his right gloved hand into a fist which surrounded with a blue magic aura.
At that moment, the vines wrapped around Aladdin angled him away from the wall, but squeezed on his limbs, torso and neck to the point where the pain was unbearable, his throat closed up because of the grip on his neck.
"Aziz, stop it! Let him go!" Jasmine cried.
At the point before Aladdin was about to pass out, the vines released him, dropping him to the ground.
"Aladdin!" Abu cried, racing over to him as he lay on the ground.
"As for the rest of your group," Aziz continued, unfazed. "They'll be waiting with the others in my lair. Well taken care of until you arrive. Unless of course, you fail the mission. And I'll make one other warning. Aladdin may know what's entailed with the rules of the game collectively and can help you, but he's not allowed to help weasel out of my terms. If he does, then I have cause to forfeit the game. That will mean everyone stays alive, but under my terms for another game. Everyone except Aladdin, that is."
Aladdin managed to angle himself to lay on his back. "You're the worst, Aziz."
Aziz laughed. "Oh, I have my moments. Now, if you excuse me, I shall be on my way. Good luck. Or not." His last words were taunting as he blew out a dark mist that surrounded the area in the passage. Aladdin and Abu coughed, not expecting the quick, cloying way it surrounded them.
When the mist cleared, Aziz, Jasmine, Iago, and Remi were all gone. The vines hung limp and lifeless along the path's walls.
Aladdin closed his eyes, wincing at both the situation they were in and feeling sore from Aziz's attack. "Can't believe he took Jasmine, Remi, and Iago, in addition to all of those people from town. Guess I should have seen something like that coming."
Abu's eyes watered. The monkey broke into uncontrollable sobs.
"Come here," Aladdin managed to sit up, opening his arms to the monkey as he pulled him into a hug. "I'm sorry, Abu. I didn't know Aziz was going to loop you into a game. That was the last thing I thought he'd do." He groaned as they pulled away. Abu was sure he looked as terrible as Aladdin felt, but the moment made him feel a little better.
Aladdin smiled a little. "We'll get everyone back. I don't know yet how we're going to manage preventing Aziz from taking that power for himself, but we'll have to improvise. Or it may be that we have to stop him before he can do anything. Guess I can't go outside the rules until the game is over, but I'll definitely help you through it."
Abu asked Aladdin about the weird moment when Aziz threatened Jasmine. Aladdin groaned, exhaling so that his hair above his brow flared up. "You're not supposed to hurt or kill anyone named under the terms of the game once its started. Especially if they're part of the wager. I knew he was about to name us as part of the wager based on what he said before. I would have called it knowing the rules if he hadn't listened. Then it would have given you a chance to name your terms in a game. He would have had to do something you wanted."
"Me?"
"Yep. It's rare that happens, though. Very few who call this kind of risky game are foolish enough not to know the rules. The more you know, the more control you have. But it's better if you don't play at all. You don't know what you end up losing."
Abu sighed, realizing he hadn't known all of what Aladdin knew.
Aladdin took the moment to get to his feet, allowing Abu to perch on his shoulder. "We don't have much time. We've gotta let Genie know everything that happened."
At that moment, a familiar voice echoed down the passage, closer to where they came in. "Aladdin? Are you here?"
"That's Ezele." Abu nodded to Aladdin, determined to see the game through. Aladdin's smile widened. "Let's go. We're going to make sure we end Aziz's game for good."
It was still the middle of the afternoon when Aladdin, Abu, Ezele, and Genie flew aboard Carpet in the middle of the open desert just outside of Gloloria. It was the desert even beyond Aziz's makeshift lair, so they'd flown a good distance away. It would take them a while to get back from the look of things.
Aladdin realized Genie had most of the story figured out, though he'd guessed on a number of details. So it wasn't like the semi-phenomenal being had many questions, but he was definitely worried. So were Abu and Ezele, Carpet included. The five of them were going to find this "treasure," even if they didn't know what to expect.
Genie grimaced as Aladdin finished filling him in on everything that happened. He sat with his arms folded over his chest, his legs crossed on the far rear of Carpet. Ezele sat beside Aladdin, Abu in front of them.
"Wish I could say I was surprised Aziz would pull something like this, but I'm not. He's very sneaky. You have to watch everything he does in order to figure out what's going on." Genie transformed into a detective with a large overcoat and matching hat. He held up a magnifying glass in his hand to center Aladdin's amused expression. He transformed back into his usual form just as quickly. "Then again, you've known him for longer than me, kiddo."
Aladdin shook his head. "It's not that I'm surprised by the game itself, but rather him looping Abu into it. If I'd known that, I would have taken his place. Abu's never been in a thief's game before. Not as a player, that is." He momentarily caught a glimpse of Abu out the corner of his gaze. The monkey concentrated on the reactions of the key, only half-listening. "Guess he'll be the one to lead us to the treasure based on the magic map."
"Are you well with me joining your journey like this?" Ezele asked, his tone weary. Aladdin didn't blame him. His entire family had been captured by Aziz. It was hard to know whether Aladdin's old enemy would do anything to harm them. The sooner they could find the treasure, the better.
"Aziz didn't forbid anyone from going along with us, so I think it's fine," Aladdin said, using his fingers to tease a few stray strands of hair out of his face as the breeze around them kicked up. "What I'm worried about is that he wanted to make sure that Carpet and Genie were going along with us. Meaning whatever we have to do to get to the treasure is dangerous. I hope you're okay with that."
"I'm willing to do whatever it takes - for my family, for the people from our home that were captured. I let everyone remaining in town know where I would be when Genie, Carpet and I left. I have an assistant taking care of things while I'm gone. But I'd wager," Ezele looked out over the expanse of desert, considering his words. "If Aziz gave a time limit, we would have to be done before nightfall in case anything goes wrong."
"That's the plan," Aladdin said. "If you're in a game with time limits and multiple parts, better to get it done as soon as you can. Once we do, we can figure out if Aziz has any other schemes."
Abu screeched a few words that made Ezele raise his brows in a silent question to Aladdin. The prince had heard it, but he'd flinched at the note, which caught both the medic's and Genie's attention.
The prince reluctantly admitted the truth. "Abu was wondering why Aziz hadn't kept me captured with the others, why I wasn't part of the wager. He's not wrong to question it. I didn't believe Aziz either when he said 'someone with experience' in the games should be with Abu."
Genie frowned. "If that's not the reason, then what is?"
Aladdin smiled. "If he kept me with Jasmine, Remi, and Iago, we all might've figured out a way to get everyone out of there before Abu ever came back with the treasure. But I don't think he knows how resourceful Jasmine can be. I don't doubt Remi and Iago have the capability either."
Genie gave Aladdin a small, humored nudge to the prince's side with his elbow. "Isn't that true though?"
What Aladdin hadn't admitted was that Aziz likely bet Aladdin would have more chance dying getting the treasure than being a prisoner. That would have brought the mood of his friends down in a way that he didn't want to draw attention to. He kept his mood light to hide that thought. "I'd feel better if we get this over with so we don't leave it all in their hands." Aladdin had been about to say more, but Abu started screeching more quickly, pointing downward. All of them had to brace themselves for Carpet's sudden stop mid-air.
"Uh, Abu, you might want to give us a little warning next time. Safety first on a magic rug that's this far up in the sky," Genie said.
Abu started screeching louder, pointing to the dark magic surrounding the key.
Aladdin looked over his shoulder at Genie. "He's saying the key's reacting to something directly beneath us. That's why he wanted Carpet to stop."
"Yeah...I can tell." Aladdin realized, both from Genie's words and wincing expression, that it was the first time - in a while or ever - that he'd seen Genie look like he wanted to throw up. Really throw up. He knew it wasn't from motion sickness, more from the effects of the key's dark magic. Yet another reason why Genie was positioned on Carpet as far away from the key as he could get.
"Carpet, you might want to take us down to the ground, slow and steady," Aladdin advised. Carpet did as he was told, lowering all the way to the sand dunes. When they finally landed, Aladdin, Abu and Ezele took their time getting to their feet, stretching their legs after a long flight.
"Okay Genie, I think you can keep your...distance?" Aladdin had meant to assure his friend that distance from the key was okay, but he saw that Genie had vanished. "Genie? Where...?" It wasn't until he saw a figure waiving to him from a fair distance along the expanse of desert that he realized how much distance Genie had put between them.
Aladdin shouted loud enough so that he could be sure Genie could hear him. "Is that really necessary?!"
Genie said something, but Aladdin couldn't hear it. Of course. The prince looked over his shoulder where Abu, Ezele, and Carpet had equally confused reactions. "Did you guys hear anything he said?"
"No," Ezele said. Abu shook his head. Carpet shrugged.
Aladdin groaned, rolling his eyes as he started to think about what he'd say to comfort his semi-phenomenal friend. But just as soon as Aladdin opened his mouth to shout again, a familiar blue hand covered his mouth. Aladdin's eyes widened as he looked up to see Genie had appeared behind him.
"No need to shout, kiddo, but I'm gonna say it again. That key is the bane of my existence and I don't like being around it. It's. Dark. Magic!"
Aladdin used his hands to gently lower Genie's hand away from his mouth. "I heard you the first time back in Remi's archive. I didn't know it was that bad."
"It IS that bad," Genie said quickly.
Aladdin held up his hands. "Okay. Keep as much distance as you want, but we still need to be able to talk to you. And ask you for help if we need it."
Genie then retreated a significant distance away from Aladdin, but within sight. He transformed his ears into those of an elephant - large and floppy. "I can hear you just fine from here! No need to shout!" He said while, ironically, shouting.
"Your Genie certainly seems to be in a mood," Ezele said, laughing a little.
Aladdin snorted. "He's always like this."
But he noticed neither Carpet nor Abu were joining in the moment, their attention directed elsewhere. Abu looked pale, and Carpet was shaking.
"What's wrong?" Aladdin said, his smile faded quickly.
This time, Ezele was able to understand Abu pointing to the ground quickly, even between worried screeches. "Think he's saying something about something glowing beneath the sands. Spooked him and your magic rug, from the look of it."
Carpet nodded furiously, pointing downward quickly for emphasis.
"Let's see what you guys found." Aladdin kneeled where Abu had once stood, but had backed away from in a moment. He tried to look from the same angle that the monkey had. To the normal eye, they were in the middle of the desert with no distinctive landmarks apart from a set of cliffs many strides away. But Aladdin saw the flicker of something beneath the sands, something not that deep. He could have passed it off as a mirage if it only happened once, but the flicker happened again. Like the visual timing of a pulse. A heartbeat.
"Abu, I think it might be reacting to the key you're holding," Aladdin said, looking up. "Can you bring it closer in?"
Abu was hesitant, but obeyed. Genie still remained a distance away from them, but his elephant ears had perked up.
As soon as the key was over the area where Aladdin knelt, the rippling shimmer became more noticeable. Aladdin used his hands to dig into the sands, realizing the shimmer was coming from something that wasn't too deep in. What he saw next had him in awe.
"Whoa. That's new."
"What did you find, your highness?" Ezele asked, approaching him.
"I can't explain what it is. The shimmer is definitely magic light, but the bottom is like a slab of black obsidian. Or black pearl. I can't tell. It's definitely something that contrasts with the sand here. Not only that, there are symbols carved in here that look familiar."
Ezele's eyes widened when he saw what Aladdin was looking at. "Those symbols...that's the ancient language of my home."
Aladdin looked up at him. "Can you read it?"
"I can certainly try; my interpretation is limited. But it looks like much of the message is covered."
Carpet seemed happy to have something to do, quickly gesturing for Aladdin and Ezele to step back. They did so, and Carpet used his form to sweep away at the obsidian slab, revealing the message in its entirety. He allowed the two to return to where they stood with a quick salute.
"I still don't know what we're standing on, but at least we can see what it says," Aladdin said.
"Must be some kind of entrance, from the look of it." Ezele studied it carefully. "I can't see a knob or handle of any kind, but I definitely see what you were talking about with the magic. Almost looks like the ripples of the waves at sea. Certainly wouldn't be a stretch to think it has a connection to our town." His eyes roamed over the carved letters. "This is a curious message."
"What is it?" Aladdin asked.
As Ezele read it aloud, Aladdin thought that he could hear a faint voice in the breeze around them, reading at the same rhythm as Ezele when he made clear the phrase.
Bring me the proof that shows you belong here.
Aladdin saw Abu's fur prickle with fear, realized something was very wrong. The whispers around them became louder, echoing the same phrase - once, twice, thrice - molding into a chorus that made Aladdin feel like his head was swimming.
"Guys!" Genie called out to them, his form back to normal and voice sounding like it was underwater. "Get away from there! There's something..."
But Aladdin didn't hear the rest. First, Abu disappeared, without so much a screech to warn them. Then, he too, faded into the blanket of darkness that folded over him, his scream cut short.