A day passed by. The black lamp was still in the same spot on the table where Mozenrath had left it. Once again, the young sorcerer found himself seated at the very table, wondering what to do with it.

He could wish for all seven kingdoms of the desert to be his, he could wish for more gold, heck, he could even with that all his enemies be turned into old camels with hepatitis. (lol)

Years ago, he would've jumped at any of those chances, but now… he just didn't care anymore.

Years of being alone and deprived of power had made him grow increasingly apathetic of what would happen to him now. At least back when he was getting into fights with Aladdin, he at least had something to do. But after two years of nothing…

Well, the only thing he really focused on nowdays was getting his magic back. He could get it in small temporary pieces, but thanks to something his former master had done, he would probably never get it back.

Not when the magic ate away at him like a parasite.

But magic itself had become almost an addiction to him. When he could just feel magic naturally, like from the touch of a working charm or a potion or a…

…magic lamp.

He touched the lamp gently, being careful not to rub it. He smiled at the cool familiar feeling that the object's magic sent through his fingers. He missed that. He really did. It made him feel more alive, especially through his skeletal right hand.

"Mozenrath sad?" The hovering eel asked, having been observing his master for the past hour.

Mozenrath shrugged, taking his fingers off the lamp. "I don't know." He looked down at the table. "Bored, maybe."

Xerxes hovered closer. "How about Mozenrath talk to Genie if bored."

"I don't have any wishes right now, Xerxes."

The eel glanced at the lamp. "Just talk to Genie normal then."

"What's wrong with talking to you?"

The eel did a lazy turn in the air. "Because Xerxes tired."

Mozenrath smirked. "Fine, you can go take a nap then." With a confirming nod, the little creature flew off. The boy turned his attention back to the lamp, pondering that thought. After all, it did get pretty boring, living in such a large place with nobody but your pet and a few undead soldiers to keep you company.

"Talk to Genie normal." He mused. Talk about what exactly? Hmm…

Perhaps he could start off by asking the djinn some questions. He did have quite a few. For example, why did the genie look so human? And how did it know Distain?

Slowly, he reached out with his gloved hand and gave the lamp three quick strokes. As before, the red smoke began to pour out of the nozzle, but it wasn't as much of a show as it was before. Within seconds, Jafar's tall figure once again stood over Mozenrath, who decided to greet him standing up rather than sitting in that chair.

Jafar looked down at his young master. "Do you have a wish?"

"Um." It took the boy a few seconds to respond, the genie's mesmerizing eyes making him feel rather vulnerable. "I'm afraid I haven't thought of any yet."

The eyes narrowed. "So why did you summon me?"

"I wanted to ask you some questions." Mozenrath folded his arms. He decided to cut the small talk and get down to what he wanted to know. "You look fairly different compared to other genies I've seen. Why?"

Jafar raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean by 'different?"

"I've seen other genies before, but they didn't look as… well, human as you."

Jafar let out an annoyed sound. "Well, I do have a 'traditional' genie form." In a burst of smoke, he transformed into a traditional-looking djinn, donned with scarlet red skin, more muscles, and a pair of gold cuffs locked tightly onto his wrists. His seductive, hypnotic eyes were replaced by glowing yellow orbs, which made Mozenrath feel a bit nervous when stared upon by them.

"Satisfied?" Genie-Jafar asked. Then suddenly, a puzzled look crossed his face. "Wait a minute…" In another flash of red smoke, he turned back into his former appearance. "What 'other' genies have you seen?" He took a few steps closer to Mozenrath. "They aren't exactly easy to come by."

The boy took a step back, the nervousness beginning to build. "There was… there was a green girl one named Eden and a blue one… I don't think he had a name…"

"A blue one." Jafar repeated to himself. He looked at Mozenrath curiously. "You wouldn't by any chance know a certain street rat named 'Aladdin' would you?"

"Aladdin?!" Mozenrath yelped in surprise, "He used to be my arch-enem… WAIT, HOW DO YOU KNOW ALADDIN?!" The young sorcerer was so shocked and confused at the mention of his rival's name from a total stranger.

Jafar rolled his eyes. "It's a bit of a long story."

"Now I remember!" Mozenrath exclaimed, "Aladdin had a parrot too! He mentioned you to me once or twice." He stopped. "Who ARE you, Jafar? Tell me! I don't understand."

Jafar gave out another sigh. "Fine…if you must know." With the snap of his fingers, he made two chairs from the table appear at their sides. They both took a seat, Mozenrath quite eager to hear the genie's story.

"A few years ago," He began, "I was the royal vizier to the sultan of Agrabah..."

Xerxes was secretly watching the two converse from a crack in one of the citadel's old gray walls.

The creature smiled. He had been getting quite tired of seeing his master do nothing but mope around and hunt for useless trinkets like a common peddler for the past two years. Not only was it getting old but it was also making the eel increasingly depressed. He remembered how much fun they used to have with the wicked plans they would put into action; summoning demons from another dimension, messing around with Aladdin whenever possible- it used to be another new adventure every week. Mozenrath had been so mischievous and full of action back then. Not like the sad, apathetic ex-wizard he had become. It just wasn't him. Xerxes wanted so much for the old Mozenrath to come back.

And this genie just might be the key to that.

Mozenrath's eyes were wide, hearing such an incredible story. So Jafar had wished to become a genie- he wasn't bourn one. That one wish had been the cause of his seemingly eternal imprisonment.

And apparently death as well, as Jafar had just finished telling him about his lamp being knocked into a pit of lava.

He leaned closer with burning interest. "So how did you come back?"

Jafar gave off a sort of half-smile. "You can't kill a genie. Genies are made out of pure magic. Magic cannot be destroyed. After some time, my lamp simply regenerated itself." He waved one hand in the air to illustrate the effect.

But something still wasn't right with this. "Why didn't you get back at Aladdin again?"

Mozenrath immediately regretted saying that at the instant effect it had in the genie's eyes. Jafar's grip on his gold cane suddenly tightened and his voice swelled with bitterness. A sort of calm bitterness.

"Another man found me and used his three wishes to make himself and his two friends rich. He lent my lamp to some of his other friends who took turns wishing for a bunch of mundane things, not really caring about the things I said, giving it back to the man when they were done with it." He rolled his eyes. "I just sort of lost interest after a while. I'm just a genie anyway; I already got my three wishes." He let out an impatient sigh, recalling those lousy memories.

The two were very quiet for several minutes reminiscing in their own regrets. It was Mozenrath who finally broke the silence. "I was a sorcerer too."

Jafar looked up. "Really?"

Mozenrath nodded. "I used to be Disdain's apprentice."

"Disdain." Jafar pondered that image for a moment smirked. "You poor boy."

Mozerath gave a light chuckle. "He took me in when I was five years old. He taught me things in exchange that I did all the chores in the citadel for him, never mind the use of mamluks." He frowned. "He really enjoyed seeing people in pain." He stretched out his right hand, clad in an old gauntlet. "He gave this to me when I was ten. It allowed me to do almost anything- summon monsters, fly… whatever I wanted."

Jafar eyed him curiously. "But…?"

The boy sighed. "But he put this weird curse on me so that the magic would eat away at my body the more I used it. Eventually I gave up that magic just so I could live." He wriggled his fingers in the gauntlet. "I've been without power for two years now."

So THAT's why the boy had declined the 'get my powers back' wish Jafar had suggested before.

"How… how exactly did it eat away at you?"

Mozerath bit his lip nervously, gripping the edge of the gauntlet. Slowly he pulled it off, looking for the reaction in Jafar's face.

Jafar's eyes did widen a little at the sight. Most of the boy's right arm was nothing but pure white bone. No skin or muscles. SOME magic must have still lurked there for survival purposes, seeing as he could still move it. But now it was clear as to just how much pain the boy had gone through for power.

Mozenrath sighed. "It doesn't hurt as much as it used to. I've gotten used to it."

Jafar frowned. "For Allah's sake boy…" he took hold of the bony hand, the boy letting out a short gasp at the touch, "If this curse did this to you, why don't you just wish it away?" He said this in a sort of 'duh' manner.

The boy tried not to show reaction to the cool sense of magic Jafar's hand was giving him. "D…Disdain said that is was permanent." His eyes narrowed at the genie in frustration. "I've tried everything, EVERYTHING to make this wretched curse go away!"

Jafar leered down at him. "Even the magic of a real djinn?"

"I…" Mozenrath looked down. "I'm just afraid that it won't work.

The genie rolled his eyes again. "And if it doesn't work," he snapped his fingers, making the number '2' appear in the air for only a few seconds. "You still have two wishes to do whatever else you may have in mind."

Mozenrath looked slowly back up at Jafar. "Um…" He sighed, trying to give off a hinted smile. "Okay, I'll try."

Jafar took one step back, preparing for the first wish.

He took a deep breath

"Genie, I wish this curse on me gone forever!"