"Unhand him, by order of the Princess!"

Raoul hesitated for a moment, before clearly recognising the woman and falling to his knees, "Princess Jasmine!"

As the other guards forced Cassim to his knees, he could only stare at the woman in shock.

"The… Princess?"

"What are you doing outside the palace?!" Raoul questioned, before turning to sneer back at Cassim, "And with the likes of him? This street rat?!"

"That's none of your concern! Do as I command! Release him!"

The tone was sufficiently commanding, and Raoul seemed cowed by it as he winced, "I-I would your Highness, but my orders come from Jafar… you'll have to take it up with him."

As Cassim was dragged away, he vaguely heard the Princess growl something in anger.

"Believe me… I will."

…..

Jasmine felt like she was going to explode. Her knuckles were almost white with how tightly she was clenching them as she stormed through the halls, searching for Jafar.

And then she spotted him at the other end of the room.

"JAFAR! JAFAR!"

Jafar spun around quickly, his eyes wide in alarm, before he smirked and bowed lowly, "Princess Jasmine. How can I serve you today?"

"Earlier today, a man was dragged from his home and arrested, on YOUR orders! I demand an explanation!"

"Your Father has given me the task of keeping peace in Central City… that man was a criminal."

Jasmine knew this, but frowned, "What was his crime?"

"Why, kidnapping the princess of course!"

"He didn't kidnap me! I ran away!"

Instantly, a shocked look flashed across Jafar's face as he moved past her, not looking her in the eye. "Oh dear… well this is terribly embarrassing. If only I'd known!"

Instantly, Jasmine felt her heart sink to her stomach, "… What do you mean?"

Jafar sighed, spinning around to face her again, "Sadly, the man's sentence has already been carried out."

"… What sentence."

"Death by beheading."

Tears immediately started to well up in her eyes at the answer, as she took a step back, shaking her head in disbelief.

Poor Cassim… poor Aladdin, what was going to happen to him?!

"My deepest apologies Princess…" Jafar reached out and gently placed his hands on her shoulder, "… Maybe- "

The anger building up again, Jasmine pushed the advisor away from her, sending him a vicious glare before storming away. Only when she was out of sight and earshot of Jafar, did she let the tears fall.

….

Cassim winced as he tugged violently at the shackles that kept him chained to the wall…. He was too old for this, and the cold of the dungeons was starting to sink into his bones. Eventually, he grew too exhausted, leaning heavily against the wall.

"The Princess…" he sighed, "… I can't believe it. I must have sounded…. Ancient to her."

"Dad? Daddy?"

Cassim glanced up at the bared window, beaming at the sight of Aladdin peering down at him, his head sticking through the bars. "Aladdin!" he hissed, "Get away from here! Run!"

Unsurprisingly, Aladdin didn't listen, slipping in through the bars, grabbing onto some chains, before slowly making his way down the wall.

Cassim just sighed.

"Alright, alright…" he shook his head, "… let's practice your lock-picking skills, huh?"

Aladdin didn't move, tilting his head to one side. "Do we have to help the Princess as well."

"No kid, probably not… it was just that one time we helped her."

"… She was pretty."

"Yeah… she was."

As Aladdin pulled out a small lockpick, clambering onto his Dad's shoulders in order to get at the locks a little easier.

"Don't worry though Aladdin." Cassim continued, "Once we get out of here, we'll never see her again. She's a princess that needs to marry a prince… I might be the King of Thieves, but that's not the sort of royal family that they need."

As the lock clicked open, and Aladdin jumped down to the ground, beaming as Cassim ruffled his hair in congratulations, before the older man's face fell again.

"It would be foolish to try and see her again."

"You're only a fool if you give up boy."

Aladdin yelped, hiding behind his father as an elderly man shuffled out of the darkness.

"Who are you?" Cassim growled, making sure that Aladdin remained behind him at all times.

"A lowly prisoner, like yourself! But together, perhaps we can be something more?"

"… I'm listening."

"There is a cave, a cave of wonders that is full of treasure beyond your wildest dreams…" Here, the old man pulled out several rubies, catching Cassim and Aladdin's attention easily, "… enough to impress the Princess I'd bet."

"Now hold on, the law says that only- "

"- you've heard of the golden rule, haven't you?" The old man smirked, "Whoever has the gold, makes the rules."

"Okay…. So, why would you share all this wonderful gold with us?"

"I need a pair of good legs and a strong back to go into the cave and get it!"

"Right…" Cassim frowned, "… just one problem with this plan. It's out there, and we're in here?"

The old man chuckled, shaking his head. "Ah, ah, ah… things aren't always what they appear boy." Pressing his cane against the wall, a small hole appeared, with the stone bricks moving to one side, "So… do we have a deal?"

With Aladdin in his arms, Cassim knew that he had no choice but to agree.

…..

WHO DARES DISTURB MY SLUMBER?

Aladdin whimpered at the booming voice, burying his face into his Dad's chest in an attempt to get away.

"Ummm…" Cassim cleared his throat, hand rubbing his son's back soothingly, "… Cassim… and my son Aladdin."

"HMMMM… PROCEED. TOUCH NOTHING BUT THE LAMP."

The mouth opened wide, to reveal stairs that led down to a glowing cavern.

"Remember, bring me the lamp!" the old man called out from behind them, "And then you'll have your reward!"

Aladdin just whimpered again.

"You're alright…" Cassim whispered, stepping into the cave, making sure to keep Aladdin calm, "… we're going to be alright."

The stairs were long and winding, leading directly to a large archway. As soon as he stepped inside, his eyes widened in surprise.

"Wow… Aladdin look at this!"

Slowly, Aladdin turned to look around, his eyes growing wide at the sight of all the gold and jewels that surrounded them.

"Just a handful of this stuff will make us richer than the Sultan!" Cassim exclaimed, gently placing Aladdin on the ground, taking his hand, "Remember… don't touch anything."

"Yes Daddy."

"Good boy… now let's go and find that lamp and then get out of here."

As they made their way through the chamber of gold, they walked past a colourful rug… which then started to follow them.

Getting the feeling that someone was following them, Aladdin spun around, frowning at the sight of the rug on the floor directly behind him.

He was sure it used to be further back.

The uneasy feeling continued though as they continued down the hallway, and when Aladdin spun round again, the rug was curled up, leaning against a pile of gold.

"Aladdin, come on. Don't fall behind now!"

As he rushed to catch up, Aladdin felt something poke him in the back. He spun around, only to get poked again… and then he felt something lift his small hat off of his head.

Spotting movement out of the corner of his eye, Aladdin slowly twisted around, only to yelp at the sight of the rug waving at him.

"Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!"

Cassim quickly turned, catching Aladdin as the child leapt into his arms, "Hey, hey, hey…" he whispered, "… what's wro- " He stopped in his tracks, eyes widening at the sight of the rug peeking out at them from behind a pile of gold, "- a magic carpet."

Slowly, he get to his knees, gently beckoning the carpet out. "Come on… it's okay, we're not going to hurt you. I think you both scared each other, huh?"

Cautiously, the carpet made its way out from behind the pile, floating over to the dropped hat, picking it up in its tassels and handing it back to a trembling Aladdin.

"There we go…" Cassim kept his voice low, smirking as Aladdin nervously held his hand out to the out-stretched tassel, "… all friends, right?" He then turned his attention to the carpet, "Do you happen to know where a… lamp is kept?"

The rug started to nod eagerly and gestured for them to follow it as it zipped off into the distance. Keeping a hold of Aladdin, Cassim rushed after him.

A few minutes later, they found themselves in a much darker area of the cave, where there was a large pool of water. Several rocks led to a larger pile, illuminated by a beam of light… and that was where the lamp sat.

Gently placing Aladdin back on the ground, Cassim sighed, "Stay here… I'll be right back." He gently ordered, before heading over to the rocks, making his way across them and heading up the stairs. When he finally made it to the top, he frowned at the sight of the dull lamp… not even gold by the looks of it.

"This is what all the fuss is about?" he asked, turning around to check on Aladdin… only to see his son getting closer and closer to the large ruby that sat opposite the stairs.

"ALADDIN! NO!"

It was too late.

Aladdin's little fingers had already brushed against the precious stone. Less than a second later, the cave started to rumble.

TRAITORS! Bellowed the cave, YOU HAVE TOUCHED THE FORBIDDEN TREASURE! AND NOW, YOU WILL NEVER SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY AGAIN!

Everything all around them started to melt or erupt into flames.

"DAD!"

As he made a run for his child, the steps underneath him transformed into a slide, causing him to slide straight towards the lava pit down below.

Thankfully, before he could hit the boiling sludge, the rug caught him, picking Aladdin up as well, before speeding towards the exit.

"Don't panic!" Cassim tried to reassure his son, clutching onto both him and the lamp tightly.

The flying carpet tried its' best as it dodged every obstacle the cave threw at it… until they were inches away from the exit. A large boulder suddenly knocked into them, sending Cassim and Aladdin flying towards the now-stone stairs as the flying carpet was pinned underneath the boulder.

Managing to hold onto the stone stairs, with Aladdin desperately clinging onto him, Cassim glanced up at the old man standing above them

"Give me the lamp!"

"I can't! Pull us in!"

"Give me the lamp first!"

"Pull us in, I have a son!"

As the old man reached down, hands grabbing at the lamp, Aladdin fought back, tiny fingers scratching at the weathered skin. However, with his other hand, the boy was struck around his head, stunning him and causing him to fall towards the lava below.

"ALADDIN! NO!"

"And now for your reward!" The old man hissed, his talons digging into Cassim's hand, "Your eternal reward!"

Prying the last of Cassim's fingers away, the old man watched as the man followed his son into the pit and the cave's mouth slammed shut.

It was only then that he realised he didn't have the lamp.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!"