So just out of curiosity, how people actually read this? Because if no one is, I'm going to take it off. I didn't include this but I clearly don't own any of the Disney characters. Just Penny, Midnight, Starlight, Jayden, Illiana, Ace, and Joss. Please review and I will continue to write this.

TAoP Chapter 13

The Princess of Agrabah and Shadows

The doors groaned open and Razoul shoved Penny through the doors. Once inside, she did a double take on the room. It was nearly as large as her island. She could hardly see the roof of the palace but it was light and airy. There were designs on the walls, the pillars, everything the artist could touch. Pillars were as large as trees and a perfect white.

"Woah! And I thought the castle was amazing," Penny gasped, receiving another smack in the head.

"Move it. The Sultan doesn't have all day for this," Razoul pushed her.

Moving down the hallway, the group arrived in front of the throne. It looked like an elephant's head with the tusks as armrests. The area was empty and they stood in an uncomfortable silence. After a few minutes of that, small hurried footsteps echoed through the hall. A little man entered with a curious expressing. He had a large white hat, which was too big for him, and a white robe.

"Razoul, what happened this time?" he asked, sitting in the chair. The guards kneeled to him and dragged Penny with them.

"Your Highness, we found this street rat stealing apples from an honest vender," the guard explained. As he talked, Penny felt the presence getting stronger and it had the similar feeling of a Heart. Hearing more footsteps, she glanced up to see that is was a girl and a boy. The girl had long black hair that was braided. Her clothes were green and she had a jewel in her head band. The boy looked more like the people in the bazaar; he only wore a vest with some pants that were old and torn. On his shoulder was a monkey.

"I see, Razoul, but was it necessary to tie up the lad?" the Sultan asked.

"Well, Your Highness, he did try to escape."

"And hurt my arm while doing it," Penny said turning to look at him. The couple stood behind the small man, looking at her. The girl had a puzzled expression; the boy was amused.

"Yes, well, why don't you tell us your story then, my boy."

"You see, sir, I have been traveling an awful long time with my friends. We finally arrived here in…ummm…" she hesitated.

"Agrabah," the girl said.

"Right, Agrabah. Anyways, I saw these apples and I lost myself. I needed something to eat."

"Poor kid. Do you have any parents back where you are from?" the boy asked taking an interest in her.

Penny scowled at the question, "Haven't got any parents. I don't know who they are."

"Oh!" the girl gasped and reached out as if to comfort her, but she drew her hand back.

"Release the boy. He won't do anything," the Sultan ordered.

Razoul grumbled as he took the key from his waist and unlocked the chains. Penny rubbed her wrists and carefully touched her charm necklace.

Jayden? Illiana? Max? Anyone? Nobody answered.

"Father, don't you think you can give him a second chance? He doesn't seem like a bad kid," the girl pleaded to the Sultan.

"I suppose I could, Jasmine, but what could he do?" Penny flinched and the color of an emerald came to mind. The string glowed bright as the name was being said. She had found another Heart.

Penny was about to give a suggestion when a guard burst into the room. He was breathless with sweat dropping from his face. People's screams followed him into the room before the door shut behind him.

"Your Highness, there are demons in the village! Three children are fighting them, but there are some coming this way! We don't know where they came from!"

Just then, the door burst open again and Shadows poured into the room. Razoul and the other guards charged at them with their swords flying into action. Penny jumped in front of Jasmine, flinging off her cloak and grabbing her sword. The boy did the same thing, only he pulled a lamp out instead of a weapon.

"Don't worry, princess, I'll protect you!" they both exclaimed at the same time. The boy gave Penny a confused look, but she only had eyes for the Shadows. None of the guards could defeat them and they overwhelmed them in numbers.

"Genie, get rid of them!" the boy called as he rubbed the lamp.

"Ah, Al, this is supposed to be my break. Didn't we agree on what times you could—what are those?" a big, blue man floated from the lamp said as he saw what was happening.

"They're called Shadows. Now take the Princess and get out of here!" Penny explained, tightening her grip on the sword. Time to put my skills to the test. Her right shoulder still hurt a bit from the fall; not to mention her side from Ace's kick still bothered her.

"Shadows? Where have I heard that before? Anyway, let's see what I can do." The genie snapped his fingers and made duplicates of himself. They all threw themselves at the Shadows engaging them in a fight.

Aladdin glanced at Penny, "Don't worry, Genie can handle them," he said so confidently.

"Aladdin!" Jasmine pointed behind them. A couple of Shadows had snuck in the back way and were making their way toward them.

"Back away!" Penny pulled Jasmine out of the way, swinging her sword. She managed to destroy one, but others were coming. When she looked behind to make sure the princess was safe, one of the creatures knocked her to the ground; her sword flew out of her hand.

"Ooof!" Penny looked up to the pitch black eyes. Its long fingers reached behind her while the other one held her down. Looking back, she saw it was reaching for her shadow. Penny panicked and fumbled for her sword, but it was out of reach. The fingers were closing in on her shadow when she waved her right hand to try to get it off her, closing her eyes in concentration. After a few seconds, nothing happened, so she slowly opened one eye. The Shadow was frozen above her. Penny kicked it off her and rolled to get her sword.

Penny? A voice in her head asked.

Jayden? Where are you guys? She continued to fight, but she was losing. She went behind a pillar to talk with any distractions.

In the bazaar. We were fighting Shadows.

There are Shadows here in the palace. They are after the Heart…I think.

Okay, we're on our way. Jayden ended the conversation abruptly.

Penny was coming back to the fight when she heard screaming. Jasmine was being dragged by Shadow. Everyone else was too busy to notice, so she followed quickly. The Shadows moved fast and Penny was tired from everything that happened this morning. She managed to catch up only to find it about to jump from the balcony. She put in a final burst of speed and sliced the Shadow in half, but the princess was falling off the edge. Penny quickly grabbed her hand and held on, lying down on the balcony. She dropped her sword to try to get a better grip, but she wasn't strong enough.

"Hold on! I'll get you out," she assured Jasmine, except her hand was slipping.

"Please don't let go," Jasmine pleaded, trying to get her other hand on the edge. But it was too late, Jasmine was too heavy for the girl and she started to fall. Without thinking, Penny jumped after her and grabbed her. As if on cue, Starlight flew around the girls and Penny immediately started to fly with the princess in her arms. They landed on the ground hard, but they were safe.

As Penny got up, Midnight came from nowhere and jumped her, growling.

Never ever leave me behind again. Didn't I promise I would protect you? He snarled angrily at the girl, showing teeth.

Penny, losing her breath from his weight, tried to talk but he wouldn't let her.

Look at how much trouble you caused. Just like a pup. What were you thinking? Don't you know how much the others worried about you?

You are still a pup, so don't you dare talk about that! Penny argued back.

Star was also chiming rude comments at her, so Penny tried to talk over her, but she was being lifted up.

"What were thinking? Why did you leave?" Jayden yelled at her as he held her at arm's length.

"You could've died! A fall like that, not even you could survive," Max said, scowling at her.

"You are not to leave our sight. And you are to bring Star or Midnight wherever you go," Illiana added looking her over.

"What were you doing?"

"She was saving me," a quiet voice said behind Penny. Jasmine stood up from the ground, dusting herself. The trio looked questionably at her and back at Penny.

"One of those creatures was dragging me off. Everyone was busy fighting, so she came to my rescue. She was also protecting me from them whenever they tried to get near," she continued. Looking at Penny, she asked, "You are truly a female and special. It isn't a coincidence that you came to the palace was it?"

Penny shook her head, "No, it wasn't. My name is Penny. I am a protector of the Hearts. I've been searching for you since I've arrived here. These are my friends: Jayden, Illiana, and Max. Those creatures are looking for the Heart of the World, which you are."

"What is—"

"Jasmine!" a voice called down to them from the balcony. Aladdin stood there and jumped down. A carpet flew at him and they drifted down to the ground. He hugged Jasmine tight. "Are you hurt? What were those things?"

As Jasmine talked to him, Illiana continued to look over Penny, "You got hurt." She took off her glove and started to heal Penny's shoulder.

"It doesn't hurt that bad," Penny winced as her shoulder was fixed, "You might want to look at my side too. That started to act up a bit."

Midnight still growled at her as he sat beside her. He was clearly never going to forgive her for a long time. Star had bitten her ear in anger and sat on Illiana's shoulder.

Penny sighed, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to run off like that or leave you behind. I acted out of impulse. I was getting hungry…"

"Again with the food. You act like we never feed you," Max said.

"I might have an idea of why she needs food, but there is no way to prove that. I finally figured out where we are. Agrabah, a town in the middle of the desert. It is run by the Sultan along with his daughter, the princess. And it goes on about the history and stuff," Jayden stated looking at his computer. "In any case, we should stay here for awhile until someone else arrives. I'll send a note back home about what happened."

"Okay, we should find a place to stay until then," Illiana finished up with the healing.

"If you want, you are welcome to stay at the palace," Jasmine offered.

"What? Do you think it will be alright?" Aladdin said cautiously, "We don't know anything about them."

"This girl saved me. I can as least owe her this much. And a decent meal, besides apples."

Penny stared in awe with the pile of food that was sitting on the table. It was a feast fit for a king. The others sat around the table talking about their plan as Penny helped herself to some food. True to his word, Midnight has not left her side since they meet back up and Penny didn't mind at all. Jasmine sat next to the girl in fascination.

"Are there other Hearts than me?" she asked.

"Yup, see these beads? These are the Hearts I found so far. I'm going to have to add yours up there too." Penny took out two beads and explained what to do. Soon, she was tying the emerald bead when Aladdin and Genie walked in.

"Wow, make sure you leave some for the rest," Genie said, pointing to Penny's plate. The food disappeared as she reached for more. She scowled, but waited patiently for everyone else to eat.

"So why do you think I eat so much Jayden?" Penny asked across the table.

"Well, at first, I thought it had to do with your growth spurt you had. But then I remembered reading something out of a magic book that had to do with energy. When someone has magical power, it feeds off their energy. Some people have to sleep it off while others drink special potions to keep their energy. You might have to keep eating in order to make sure your magic doesn't get out of hand," Jayden explained, cutting into his meat and pondering.

"Aha…"

"I'll test this out tomorrow when I give you lessons. I shouldn't have put them off this late, but with everything that has happened I didn't have the time."

"Not to mention you need to have more sword lessons. Shadows will be popping up everywhere now that we are traveling farther from Fantasia," Max added.

"Great, lessons…" Penny mumbled.

"Our guest rooms are ready whenever they want to sleep," Aladdin said trying to gain the attention from Jasmine, who was listening to their conversation intently.

"Oh alright, I will show you to your rooms if you would like," Jasmine offered.

"A good night's sleep is just what I need after a fight," Illiana yawned and stretched. The boys agreed, but Penny didn't have enough food yet.

"You guys go ahead. I'm gonna eat a little bit more."

As the others left, a parrot came into the room followed by the monkey that was on Aladdin's shoulder earlier.

"Who are all these people and why have they eaten all the food?" he squawked landing on the table. The monkey was stuffing food in his mouth and chattering away.

"Abu! Don't eat so much. These are Jasmine's guests. They might be staying with us for awhile," Aladdin explained.

"Well, there's a surprise. Since when have we taken guests?"

They talked for some time and Penny grew bored. She had finally eaten her fill when the day's excitement was taking its toll on her. She was nodding to sleep when Jasmine came back. The girl didn't even remember going to a room with a bed when she drifted to a dreamless sleep.