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Chapter 17- And So the Demon Smiled

The desert winds blew a shower of scorching sand onto Iji. She dusted the mess off of her with mild disgust.

"Jafar, where are we going?" she asked. "It's hot and I wanna get out of the sun."

Jafar held two pieces of a gold scarab in his hands. He placed them together and they flew into the sand. The sky grew dark and a massive tiger's head reared itself out of the desert.

"This, Iji, is the Cave of Wonders," explained Jafar. "I have come to the conclusion that the Keyhole to this world is in here."

"And because I can find Keyholes, you want me to go in and look?" Iji stared up at the strangely-shaped cave.

"Yes," nodded Jafar. "You get along now and go look for the Keyhole. I will come in a moment."

"'Kay!" said Iji cheerfully and clambered inside.

Jafar smirked and turned behind him. He waved his staff and took an invisibility spell off of Jasmine, who was bound and gagged. A Heartless guarded her.

"I do hope you'll forgive me for the brief discomfort Princess." he apologised falsely.

Jasmine made some muffled shouts of insult at the vizier. Jafar ignored them.

Iago the parrot scratched his head. "Hey, Boss? You wager that the rat'll be dumb enough to show up and act the hero?"

"Doubt not, my feathered minion. He shall of his own accord deliver the Great Lamp to us. It was to this end that I allowed the monkey to escape." Jafar laughed deeply.

'It's a trap, Aladdin!!! Please don't come!!' Jasmine screamed in her mind.

"Come that the Great Lamp and the strength of darkness do to my possession fall... This world and all within it shall be as my playthings!" The vizier laughed harder and more manically.

"Jafaaaaaarrr!!!" yelled a voice, coming closer with every second.

"Ah, so the hero has come at last…" mused Jafar.

"We won't let you get away with this, Jafar! Give Jasmine back!" Sora leapt off the magic carpet and lifted his Keyblade.

Donald and Goofy also got their weapons ready.

Aladdin hopped off the carpet and frowned. "Aw, c'mon guys! That's my line!"

"Oops, sorry man." said Sora embarrassingly.

Aladdin secretly pulled out the Lamp and rubbed it. "Genie, save Jasmine!" he whispered to it.

"Wish Number Two coming right up!" Genie flew in and swept Jasmine up in his arms.

Jasmine tore her gag off. "Aladdin! Stay away! It's a trap!!" she shouted.

Iago landed on Jafar's shoulder. He grinned. "Much too late, Aladdin!" He brandished the Magic Lamp.

"What?! No!" Aladdin searched for the Lamp, but found that it was missing.

Jafar grabbed the Lamp off of the parrot and held it up proudly. "Your wish has been denied street rat! Come to me, djinn!"

Genie sadly dropped the Princess and sadly said. "Sorry, Al…"

Jafar laughed. "It's all over!" He raised his staff and a group of Heartless appeared. A Barrel Heartless swallowed Jasmine. "Now my Heartless, terminate the infidels!"

"It's not over Jafar! Not by a long shot!" shouted Aladdin as the man and the captive Princess disappeared into the Cave of Wonders.

*****

"What do you want with me, Jafar?!" demanded Jasmine as she was towed down the cavern steps.

"Why, my dear Princess. Is it not obvious? I want your Heart so that we may open the final door to darkness." Jafar looked at her with disdain.

Jasmine narrowed her eyes. "Aladdin will rescue me. You won't get my Heart. And you won't get that 'Keyhole' thing either!"

Jafar stopped and curved his head around to her. "Oh, I think I will be finding that Keyhole. I have someone who is very willing to help find it."

"That girl…" said Jasmine. "You're just using her aren't you?"

"Ah, indeed." grinned Jafar. "Now, if you beg my pardon, I would like some quiet time." He stuffed the gag back in her mouth. He rubbed the Lamp and Genie grumpily crawled out.

"Yes, 'Master'…?" Genie drawled.

Jafar sniffed with a look of contempt on his face. "I can make or break you great 'Djinn of the Lamp', so I wouldn't be taking that tone with me."

"Yes, Master." Genie said in a more polite voice, though his eyes were still burning with hatred.

"Ahem, now… Let's see how our fair Iji is going." Jafar clapped his hands and they disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

*****

Sora collapsed on the ground exhausted. The battle had been hard. Donald tossed him a potion and Sora drank it down immediately.

"See, they are vital." commented the magician.

"Yeah…" grunted Sora as he got up.

Aboo was talking to Aladdin in his strange language.

"You don't say…?" asked the young man. Aboo nodded. "Hey guys, Aboo just told me something interesting."

"Huh?" enquired the others.

"Apparently Jafar was talking to some big dark evil woman just before Jasmine got kidnapped." Aladdin said.

"Ahyuk, that's Maleficent prolly'." Goofy interjected.

"She's a witch." added Donald.

"Oh, okay. Well, anyways, after Jafar talked to her, this Maleficent woman introduced some girl to him and he went off with her." Aladdin shrugged. "Is that right, Aboo?"

"Ahuh!" nodded the monkey.

"Girl?" exclaimed Sora. "What did she look like Aboo?!" Sora grabbed the monkey and shook him.

Aboo screeched something incoherent.

Aladdin translated. "She had silver-blonde hair in a ponytail and a pair of wings. Hmm, strange looking girl..."

Sora yelled excitedly. "That's Iji!! It's just gotta be!!" Sora halted, and his eyes grew wide. "Oh no… Jafar's using her to find the Keyhole! We gotta go!" Sora ran off into the Cave of Wonders.

"Wait for us!" called the others.

*****

Iji picked her way through a sea of treasure looking for any signs of a Keyhole. She sighed. "How am I supposed to find it? I'm having absolutely no luck here."

A plume of smoke piled up from the floor and Jafar appeared along with Genie. Jasmine was also there, but was hidden by the Barrel Heartless which hid itself behind a pile of treasure.

"Have you found it yet, Iji?" inquired Jafar. A tad of impatience was in his voice.

Iji shook her head. "It's a lot harder than I thought. I have no idea how to use this power in me that Maleficent said I had."

Genie stared at the girl and opened his mouth to say something.

"Back into the Lamp, djinn." ordered Jafar and used the Lamp to suck him up.

"Who was that?" asked Iji.

"It's just a friend of mine, my dear, nothing to worry your pretty little head about." Jafar said. His smile had disappeared. "Let's move on, and this time you better work quickly." He pointed to a doorway that connected to a large spherical-like cavern.

"Alright." nodded the girl nervously and took off for it. Jafar trailed behind, smirking.

*****

Aladdin pulled up. "Where do we go…?" He looked around cautiously.

Sora gazed ahead of him. "That way," He pointed. "I dunno why, but something's calling me, whispering for me to hurry."

They started to run again, defeating the scores of Heartless that they ran into and kept going until they entered the next room.

"Wowzas!" gasped Goofy as they saw the piles of treasures.

The golden artefacts looked like they had been searched through; pieces lay scattered, thrown off the piles.

'Iji was here, I just know it.' thought Sora.

*****

"Iji, what is taking you so long?" asked Jafar. The irritation in his voice was rising.

The winged girl inspected the walls, looking desperate. "I-I don't know! I can feel something calling me, but I just can't find where it's coming from!"

Jafar growled. "You useless girl! Find it this instance!"

Iji turned from the wall to stare at him. "No… You want it for yourself don't you?"

"What…?! How dare you defy me!" bellowed the vizier.

"If you want it for yourself… then I won't do it!" Iji yelled as she tried to stay calm. "I'm finding it for Sora, not you! You've been deceiving Maleficent too haven't you? She wants me to help Sora, but you don't! I won't find it!"

Jafar's face went red with anger. "For your disobedience, girl, you'll pay the price!" Jafar chanted in some strange language and whipped his staff out in front of himself.

Iji cried out as a piercing beam of bright light smacked her off her feet and made her head land against the wall she had been searching. She collapsed down onto the sandy floor. A small trickle of red blood dripped down her hair.

Jafar recomposed himself and rubbed the Lamp. "Djinn! My first wish! Reveal to me the Keyhole!"

Genie glimpsed at the unconscious girl, then glared at his unwanted master. He clicked his fingers together and a wall fell apart, revealing a hidden doorway with a Keyhole in the middle.

"Your reputed omnipresence proves itself true, djinn." said Jafar in wonder as the dust settled. He smiled at Genie. "Surely the conquest of the world is to one of your kind of power but a frivolity. Would you care to become my ally in this matter?"

Genie brooded and grumbled. "Quit yer joking, O Master of the Lamp…"

"Violating the statutes of the concern are grounds for removal, Jafar." remarked a voice from in front of the Keyhole.

Jafar turned, a look of surprise on his face. "Maleficent! Yo-You misunderstand, it was but a jest."

"I would not regret your dismissal, in truth." Maleficent scratched her minion crow's beak. "You are, after all, merely an expendable asset. Remember that."

The vizier's mouth opened and closed several times. "It was but jest!"

The witch ignored him and regarded Iji who was out cold on the floor. "I see your temper got to you, Jafar…"

Jafar crossed his arms. "The child was becoming wise to our strategy. It was no fault of mine that I chose to take action against it before she figured out anymore of it."

"She is still loyal to me I take it?" The witch eyed him inquiringly.

"Yes, I imagine so." nodded Jafar, still nervous.

Maleficent also nodded. "Very well then... I shall send for her and the Princess in a few minutes. Now, as for that boy... Has he been troubling you again?"

The vizier grunted angrily. "He's more persistent than I expected. Why not explain the situation to that boy Riku? Doing so may actually prove useful to our-" The sounds of running feet and shouting made him turn around.

Sora stopped in the middle of the cavern and stared up at Maleficent. "Wait a second. Are you-, are you Maleficent?" he asked.

The witch said nothing as she faded into the air.

"Iji…!" shouted Sora desperately as he spotted the winged girl and her wound.

Aladdin gasped as he saw his love. "Give her back, Jafar!" he yelled.

Jafar smirked back. "Not a chance. You see, they are both important. Jasmine is a princess, one of seven. And Iji can find Keyholes. They both somehow hold the key to opening the door."

Goofy blinked. "Open…"

Donald blinked as well. "…the door?"

Jafar looked down his nose at them all. "But you fools won't live to what lies beyond it. Djinn! My second wish… Crush them!!"

Genie wagged a finger. "Whoa there, Master. Technically, I can't kill anyone. It goes against my union's rules."

The vizier banged his staff up and down like he was having a temper tantrum. "Well, just hurt them bad then!!"

Aladdin gasped and stared up at his friend. "Genie, no!"

The genie's shoulders dropped. "Sorry Al. The one with the Lamp calls the shots. I don't have a choice." Genie started to spin around, shooting lightning bolts out of his fingers. He aimed away from Sora's group. 'Please run away! Avoid the attacks!' thought Genie as he shot out a bolt.

It hit Goofy square in the chest, leaving him a smouldering mess.

"Oops…" said Genie and pointed again.

Goofy suddenly appeared in a hospital bed, all set up with bandages and food. "Ahyuck!" Goofy chuckled, slightly concussed.

Jafar glared at Genie. A muscle under his eye twitched. "You seem to have missed, djinn. You disappoint me! Utterly pathetic! Power absolute in the void of utilization is meaningless! I shall show you myself the true use of your abilities!"