Chapter 21: Finding What's Right
He didn't have enough time to take in his surroundings. All he managed to notice was that the world was very sandy, before his attention was drawn elsewhere. A girl, who looked suspiciously like royalty, was bound. And standing next to her was Sora. Next to Sora stood a man named Jafar. How Riku knew the name, he wasn't sure, and he didn't really care. Next to Jafar hovered a Genie.
"Sora!" Riku shouted. "What the heck are you doing!"
"Oh look, trouble," Sora muttered, glaring at Riku. He turned to Jafar. "I should take the princess and go, before-"
"Jafar!" someone shouted, running into the room. "Let Jasmine go!"
"Aladdin!" the girl, who Riku assumed was Jasmine, shouted. Riku turned to the boy who had entered the room, who he quickly assumed to be Aladdin.
The distinct sound of a dark corridor opening caught his attention, and Riku turned, finding that Sora was dragging Jasmine off. Anger bubbled up inside him and he took of at a dead run to catch Sora. Sora reached the dark corridor first, and stepped through. Riku quickly thrust a hand in it to keep it open, and was about to step through, when he stopped.
"Genie! Help Jasmine! Please!" Aladdin shouted desperately, looking at the Genie.
"Too bad, street rat!" Jafar sneered. "I'm the Genie's master now."
"Genie…" Aladdin said.
"Sorry, Al," Genie muttered. "But the one with the lamp calls the shots."
"Lamp…" Riku mused. His eyes darted to the lamp, which Jafar held. He closed his eyes and sighed, knowing he was going to regret doing this later. He withdrew his hand from the dark corridor, which closed instantly. He pulled out his blade and attacked Jafar, making a sad attempt to grab the lamp. He wasn't really trying though.
"Genie! Stop him!" Jafar commanded.
Riku quickly rolled out of the way of a lightning bolt that nearly hit him, and then quickly dodged a large amount of other attacks from Genie. It wasn't hard to avoid, he could tell Genie was barely trying. However, after only a minute of the constant dodging, Genie caught him by the collar of his shirt.
"Sorry, kid," Genie said.
Riku shrugged. "It's no big deal," he said. He had been through much worse than this.
"Who are-" Aladdin started to ask, but he was ignored.
"Hey, Jafar," Riku called, suddenly getting an idea. "I noticed you're having the Genie fight your battles. What's gonna happen when he's not around to help you? It seems to me that, without him, you're nothing."
"What!" Jafar snapped.
"Kid, what are you saying?" Genie asked.
Aladdin, however, was catching on. "Genie has ten times the power you do, Jafar!" he shouted. "Compared to him, you're nothing."
"Al!" Genie shouted, shocked.
Jafar took a moment to consider this. "My final wish, Genie!" he said after a moment. "I want you to make me an all-powerful Genie!"
"Way to go, guys," Genie muttered, letting go of Riku. He snapped his fingers, and the ground shook. Jafar's evil laughter filled the air as he rose above them, transforming into a Genie.
Riku rolled forward, grabbing the new lamp that had formed along with Jafar's change. He picked up the lamp and examined it for a moment. "Back to your lamp, Jafar!" he chuckled.
"Wha-" Jafar asked, stopping mid-laugh.
"The one with the lamp calls the shots!" Riku said, as Jafar was sucked into the lamp.
"How can this be!" came Jafar's muffled shouts from inside the lamp.
"It comes with the job, Jafar," Aladdin laughed. "You get phenomenal cosmic powers, and an itty bitty living space."
Riku looked between Aladdin and Genie. "So, what are we going to do with this lamp?" he asked, twirling it around his finger.
Genie snatched it from his hands. "I say we… burry it!" he pulled out a shovel and proceeded to do so. Riku chuckled.
"I'm Riku, by the way," he said, turning to Aladdin.
"Aladdin."
Riku smiled, and then scratched his head. "Sorry about Jasmine…"
"It's not your fault," Aladdin muttered, staring sadly at the ground.
"Hello! Earth to Al!" Genie said, patting Aladdin on the shoulder. "You've still got one wish left. Just say the word! I'll find Jasmine for you."
"But- Genie…"
Genie grinned.
"Alright," Aladdin sighed. "Here's my final wish; I wish- for you're freedom, Genie."
"Al!" Genie gasped. "You didn't have to go and do that!"
"A deal's a deal, right?"
Riku bit his lip, unsure of what to say about this situation. He felt like he was just in the way at the moment. "I'll find Jasmine," he said, after thinking for a second.
"No, it's alright-" Aladdin began.
"I don't mind," Riku said.
"You sure?"
Riku nodded.
"Thanks," Aladdin said, scratching his head. "I barely even know you," he muttered as an after thought.
"I know," Riku shrugged. "But I know how you feel. There are some people I'd hate to lose, too." Namine flitted past his mind for a second, and he grimaced at the thought of losing her.
"Well, thanks," Aladdin said again. Riku laughed.
"I'll be heading off then," he said, opening up a dark corridor. "I'll bring Jasmine back as soon as I can, okay?"
Aladdin nodded. Riku was gone.
xxx
"Hey, Riku," Namine said, not even bothering to look up from her drawing.
Riku chuckled. "You know that I'm not the only who can use dark corridors, right?"
"I know," she replied, carefully fixing a mistake. "I recognized your footsteps."
Riku couldn't think of anything to say in response to that, so he just didn't say anything. He glanced over her shoulder, curious as to what she was drawing. "Hey, that's Kairi," he said.
"Yeah," Namine muttered, slightly frustrated, due to that she had just messed up. She quickly erased her mistake and then set about fixing it. "I've been drawing her and Sora for a bit now."
"Where is that?" Riku asked. He didn't recognize the world Kairi sat in. Well, it looked naggingly familiar, but he didn't know why.
"Oh, that's Hollow Bastion."
Riku frowned, because that name was also naggingly familiar. He just couldn't place where he had heard it before. "How do you know that?" he asked.
"I sorta… went there yesterday," she muttered. She opened up a dark corridor beside her, and then looked up at Riku and grinned. Unsure of what to say in response to that, he just chuckled. Namine closed the corridor.
"So, how'd it go today, in whatever world you went to?" Namine asked.
Riku shrugged. "Not terribly well. I nearly caught up to Sora, but he got away."
"You know, I bet if Kairi's in Hollow Bastion, that's where Sora is, too," Namine said.
Riku thought about that a second, and then laughed at his own stupidity. "That would make sense…" he muttered.
"Here," Namine opened up a dark corridor. "That'll take you to Hollow Bastion."
"I could have-" Riku began, and then sighed. "Thanks."
"You're welcome!"
Riku waved, and then headed through the dark corridor.