Disclaimer: Aladdin is the property of D*sney, and I claim nothing but my own silly ideas.

Chapter 6

Topsy Turvy

They didn't leave the tent until long after the moon had passed its zenith. Jasmine shivered in the open expanse of desert cold after the close warmth of Hasim's tent and wrapped her arms around herself. Mozenrath exited behind her, flexing and cracking the bones of his right hand in a manner that was far too loud for the serene quiet that surrounded them. Her annoyance was replaced by the apathy of fatigue, and she barely had the energy to release an encumbered sigh at his behavior after an entire evening of disapproving glares. Her guards moved groggily from their posts to resume their duties, but she only shook her heavy head and motioned for them to retire. She was relatively sure that Mozenrath had no intention of hurting her for the moment. He needed her, after all.

They needed each other.

She tilted her head up to take in his profile in the moonlight, pale and cold and calculating as it was, and tried to imagine what thoughts were clawing at the back of that stony façade. The eel was hanging around his neck again, obviously asleep and snoring in humorous contrast to the serious look of contemplation that stretched across the sorcerer's features as he stared off into the gradually darkening hills of his homeland. Jasmine felt the unexpected serration of guilt across the freshly mended skin of their truce when she recognized what completing her final objective for the evening would mean.

She made a noise in the back of her throat and he turned to her, exhaustion creeping over the landscape of his face, even as he attempted a menacing grimace. She tried to think of something to say, but drew a blank when she realized that she didn't want to lie to him. After the depth of truth that had passed between them tonight, she felt a nearly physical reaction at the thought of manipulating him with pretense. Even amongst all of the insults and misconceptions, Jasmine had spoken her true mind to the sorcerer. It was a strangely honest relationship to share with someone you despised.

The seconds ticked away as she attempted to understand the dynamics of this new partnership she'd agreed to. He was going to help her achieve her goals in exchange for the same courtesy. No one else, besides Hasim, knew how badly she wanted to become her father's heir. How did this new understanding affect his opinion of her? Both encounters showed he held her in contempt for being a pampered palace brat. Would any of that be affected by the acknowledgement of her ambition? Should she care? He'd given his kingdom's fealty and protection. No promises of friendship or warm civility, just cold hard necessity.

Jasmine took a deep breath, willing her tense muscles to release.

She didn't dare guess at what else he might have figured out about her beyond the obvious, but the freedom of having someone else know was a breath of fresh air after a lifetime under the crushing weight of an ocean. Jasmine finally relaxed with the knowledge that she wouldn't have to hide this piece herself from him. His opinion was meaningless. They both knew that this was an alliance of convenience and nothing more.

Mozenrath moved towards his tent, but she restrained him with a gentle touch at the threadbare elbow of his sleeve. He turned sharply to glare at her in the moonlight, but even in anger he didn't break the silence that enclosed the camp. The uncertainty in his eyes said he was as confused as she was about how to proceed.

A spike of adrenaline rushed through her as she threw caution to the wind. Jasmine prayed that her and Genie's plan wouldn't obliterate everything she'd accomplished in the past few hours.

"I… There's something I want to give to you."

He raised a speculative eyebrow, but said nothing. She gestured to her own tent at the far edge of the circle and the eyebrow made an astounding reach for his hairline before diving back down into a depraved expression that caused her to roll her eyes. Apparently some things hadn't changed at all.

"You don't say…" he commented, filling his voice with all sorts of promises that made her stomach turn. Jasmine was beginning to think that he did things like this for the sole purpose of upsetting her. Actual anger sparked in the haze of her exhaustion. For some unfathomable reason, the idea that his interest was feigned was more infuriating than his actual behavior.

The inside of the Princess' tent was a good deal nicer than his own, but he refrained from saying so. Not out of propriety, but from lack of opportunity since as soon as he'd stepped over her threshold she'd moved to one of the partitioned back corners to retrieve something. This left him to wonder at her decision to invite him here in the first place.

What was she playing at?

Though Mozenrath hated her on so many levels it was difficult to see straight, the part of him that was still very much a hormonal adolescent cast a hopeful glance towards the heavenly cushions and throws of her sleeping mat. He immediately dismissed the idea as implausible and mocked himself for sinking so low. Teasing the girl was one thing, but anything else would be nearly as debasing to him as it would be to her. He began exploring the rest of her quarters to try and decipher the real reason behind her impromptu invitation, though he was having a difficult time focusing with the small amount of energy he had left.

The old man certainly knew how to beat a topic to death.

His eye was abruptly drawn down from the luxurious fabrics of her bed to the enchanted rug on the floor. For the Princess of a Non-Magical realm, she certainly boasted a fair number of supernatural accessories. With a malicious smirk he moved to stand on the creature, digging his heels viciously into the pile. The Carpet remained still and he frowned heavily at the lack of response.

Well, if it wanted to continue this charade, Mozenrath was more than willing to accommodate its stubbornness.

He used a small pinch of power to summon one of the lamps that hung overhead. He allowed the contents of it to jostle threateningly over his flammable foe for a few moments, even going so far as to let the oil dribble down onto one threadbare corner of the mat before returning the lamp to it's assigned position in frustration. He contemplated waking Xerxes and ordering the creature relieve itself on the magical miscreant, but the girl's re-emergence put those plans on indefinite hold. She was carrying a long, thin object wrapped in black cloth that was taller than her. A moment of confused silence stretched between them. Not because of her cargo, he knew that would be explained.

No.

It was because of that same unsaid something that had stretched between them in the moonlight only a few minutes ago. Mozenrath doubted that anyone besides himself and the Vizier knew about her plans. In a way, it was almost as if he were tied to her by the knowledge. He found himself drawn to the ambition of the idea in spite of his hatred for everything she stood for. Her need to be better than her circumstances was very… familiar.

"This is for you." He blinked at the interruption in his chain of thought.

"I… know it was wrong for me to leave you here for so long, regardless of what you'd done." She extended her arms so that he could take it, all while studiously glaring at his boots. His suspicions rose at her sudden change of heart. Just a few hours ago she'd been happily boasting about her choice to leave him to his death. Had the shift between them been so great that she would now regret his demise? He gave her a lopsided look of disbelief.

"Please accept this gift as my apology." There was more than a hint of frustration in her voice this time, combined with a slight pursing of lips and the frenzied tapping of her foot at his reluctance. His suspicions were replaced with outrage. She honestly thought his forgiveness could be bought?

Wrong again Princess.

Mozenrath examined the cloth, but found nothing to indicate what was inside. He drew out his inspection as long as possible as her agitation grew by leaps and bounds. He couldn't detect any glamours, but it was difficult for his eyes to discern where the Princess' enchantments ended and the objects might have begun. Mozenrath's curiosity was beginning to outweigh his unease and in an action he would later come to regret, he acted impulsively.

He took it from her to test its weight.

She relaxed so forcefully after he lifted the item from her grasp that he felt the need to say something; anything to keep her from believing that all was forgiven or forgotten.

"Think nothing of it Princess." He told her with a cold smile. "I wouldn't have done anything differently if our situations were reversed."

A ghost of anger passed across her face before she replied with the same boring heroic tone he'd heard a thousand times over from her companion.

"I'm not like you. What I did was morally reprehensible and went against everything I strive for as an individual and a leader."

Of course she would turn her apologetic gesture around to place herself on the moral high ground. He wouldn't expect anything less from Aladdin's Perfect Princess. Mozenrath seethed inwardly, but found himself without the necessary energy to argue over the points of her black and white morality.

"Please, take it and consider this a promise that I will endeavor to treat you with more respect in the future."

He weighed the item in his hands with growing interest. What could she have in her possession that he would want? His curiosity fully overwhelmed his honed sense of self-preservation and he reached through the fabric to touch the warm metal of a magical object before discarding the cloth entirely in childish impatience. It was a scepter and he stuttered mentally when he recognized the carvings. After a moment Mozenrath was able to place it's familiarity. Her earlier comment made sense now. Though how that doddering old fool ever considered himself the most powerful anything was beyond even Mozenrath's ability to comprehend.

"Ah, yes. Jafar." He was incredibly pleased when she drew her arms up in a defensive gesture across her chest. Apparently that worthless wizard had managed to do some actual damage to the Royal Family before his incompetence caught up with him.

"I always thought Destane wasted his time crafting such a powerful object for that two-denarii hypnotist and his wild schemes. But, then again, the man had money to burn and we've never had any scruples about ripping off idiots in my kingdom."

She narrowed her eyes at the multiple implications of his statement.

A small trill of excitement ran through him at the prospect of having acquired another high quality piece. His former master never allowed for imperfections and, unlike Jafar, Mozenrath possessed the skills and knowledge necessary to wield the staff's true power. He turned the object over in his hands, looked into the serpentine face and said the first thing that came into his mind with the dull voice of an unhappy child.

"It's been repaired recently."

The girl shrugged. If she was surprised that he was familiar with the scepter already she didn't show it. Mozenrath wondered if her choice was at all coincidental.

Experience told him no.

"Jafar underestimated Aladdin and I, and paid the price." He felt his neck tighten uncomfortably at the thought of her and that dirty mongrel ruining yet another opportunity for him to add to his collection. He ran the gauntlet over the replaced eyes and felt the slight tingle of lingering magic. He scowled heavily at her for tricking him.

"It hasn't retained any of its former capabilities. Why would I want a broken object of power?" She gave him a tight smile that said she was not the least bit sorry about the fact that his 'gift' was damaged. Her self-satisfied demeanor expressed what she wasn't saying and it rang out in the conversational lull. "What kind of fool do you take me for?"

God, how he hated her!

"I assumed you would like the chance to examine it for it's scholarly value. Surely, things like this are not commonplace, even for you."

He scoffed at her pathetic excuse. As if she knew anything about magic beyond its use as a mystical bandage for being a worthless monarch.

"Destane made this after I came to live with him in the Citadel. If I truly desire to know more about it's construction than what I witnessed firsthand, I have his journals at my disposal."

He turned away from her to distract from the fact that he still had no intention of giving it back, broken or not. She apparently noticed his behavior and chuckled at her own cleverness. He moved to make his exit, not wanting to see her look of smug self-assurance.

"Oh, Mozenrath." He was increasingly uncomfortable with her tone of voice. "Surely by your age you've realized that books are nowhere near as enjoyable as the real thing."

.

.

.

He left the tent dizzy, with several theories swirling around in his head in the wake of her laughter.

He must have been beyond exhaustion to accept such a gift in the first place.

She must have kicked him senseless and he was bleeding in his brain if he was still underestimating her deviousness.

And surely, he was asleep in his bed and having a fantastic nightmare if the prudish Princess of Agrebah was the one throwing out innuendos and laughing about it behind his back.

Dawn found the wizard sitting before his former prison, gauntleted hand pressed palm-flat against the smooth surface, as he worked on summoning the magic still trapped within the enchanted stone. Xerxes was finally awake and hovering nervously behind him, checking to make sure they hadn't been followed from the camp.

As the rays of daylight began filtering through the glassy surface, Mozenrath could see that the once emerald green crystal was now the same electric blue as his magic. Despite having spent the majority of the night working on siphoning back his power, he had barely managed to work himself back up to half of his former strength, much less effect the overall composition of the crystal. It was unnerving to realize how close he'd been to expiring before his 'rescue' after all.

However, there was nothing like pain to remind him of his continued vivaciousness. The rocky ground was digging into his knees and some of the bolder pebbles had managed to work themselves through the numerous holes in his pants to begin scraping away at his skin. Between that and the searing sting of the gauntlet at work, the two hours of sleep he'd managed to accumulate weren't nearly enough to restore his health considering the circumstances he currently found himself in.

When the dosage of discomfort became too much for him to bear, Mozenrath would pull back and test the power of his spell work. Despite his slow progress, the gradually disappearing cliff face was a good sign. He listened to the satisfying echo of crumbling rock for a few minutes after the initial impact of his latest attempt and felt the larger muscles of his back relax.

Mozenrath was just beginning to debate the most effective methods of transporting the crystal back to the citadel when Xerxes screeched and flew straight into the air to attack a speck on the edge of his vision. He could just make out the glint of sunlight off of a crown against the morning sky. Alarm quickly bled into amusement. He stood and waved daintily at her, wiggling the fingers of his magical hand with relish as he tested their recovered dexterity.

"Good Morning Princess." He called dramatically.

Xerxes halted mid-swoop, pulling the sharp points of his teeth back from their offensive stance and sniffing the air. He hovered for a moment and exchanged a few unintelligible words with the shadowy figure before turning to lead the girl and her carpet down to eye level. Or at least to a height that wasn't so eye straining.

It was obvious from the look of her that the princess had little time to prepare before heading out in search of him. The nasty tangles throughout her unbound hair suggested a night of tossing and turning.

"You're looking remarkably disheveled today. Rough night?"

She jumped down from a height well above his own and landed in a crouch in front of him. He was beginning to wonder how a pampered doll possessed that level of physical prowess, regardless of the kind of company she kept. Some feats were just unnatural for a girl of her upbringing.

"There was a bit of chaos this morning when no one could find you. Hasim wanted to make sure you were aware of the next council meeting before you head back to whatever miserable place you inhabit."

He smirked at her attempt to cover up her concern. The lines of panic were still plainly visible on her face. He had no idea she'd needed his help this badly.

"But why the theatrics? Were you afraid I'd left without saying goodbye?"

He threw his arms up in a mock swoon before bringing them down forcefully on his hips. She remained silent throughout his performance.

"Or was it a farewell kiss you were missing?" Xerxes chose to punctuate this offer with one of his own as he puckered his fishy lips at her.

"Kissy… kissy!"

The Princess twisted her face into the most unbecoming look possible, while the rug managed to look as outraged as home décor could. He laughed aloud at their discomfort, though Mozenrath had to admit that the idea of locking lips with an eel was not particularly appealing to him either.

Mozenrath patted the creature on it's scaly head before turning back to look at the girl. She was watching him with the strangest look on her face. When the Princess stepped towards him, Mozenrath took a distracted step back into the crystals side. Did she honestly think he'd been serious! The way she leaned in towards him made the sorcerer extremely unsure.

.

.

.

"Is that thing… glowing?"

Jasmine was surprised to see the crystal growing brighter with every step she took towards it. Mozenrath was backed up all the way, looking at her as if she'd lost her mind, but she was too memserized to care. The flashing color was unlike anything she'd ever seen. But then…

What on earth was he doing out here by himself? She assumed Mozenrath wouldn't want to be within a hundred miles of this thing, much less curled up against the side as it pulsed with an ominous blue light. The thought occurred to her that the glowing might not be a good sign and she halted her advance before taking a few staggering steps backward.

The wizard snapped out of his moment of confusion and realized the true source of her interest a handful of seconds later. They both spent the next few minutes pondering this development while the rug and eel made valiant efforts to get their attention. Finally, Mozenrath seemed to have an idea and jumped forward to seize Jasmine by the wrist to pull her closer to the stone.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Testing a theory."

His voice was perfectly calm when he replied, though it caught Jasmine off guard to hear him so… engaged. The lack of malice was also an interesting development. He pushed the arm wearing Genie's bangle forward and she felt her heart quiver with fear when the color flashed to new heights. She struggled against him to move back from the stone, but he was stronger and held her fast.

Mozenrath waved her arm back and forth several times before releasing her and shoving her behind him. He then assumed the position she'd been forcefully ejected from and furrowed his brow in contemplation when his gauntlet failed to achieve the same effect. He eyed Carpet over his shoulder and snapped out at her.

"Order your carpet to fly over to me."

"You don't command me!" Jasmine hissed back at him, rubbing her arm and extremely relieved to be away from both monumental crystals and raving lunatics.

He turned and fixed her with a disapproving eye.

"Partners, remember? You promised me aid." His face said he was calling in his favor. He flapped his hand at her impatiently.

She turned to the reluctant rug and gestured for him to make his way over. She hated seeing the defeated swing of it's tassels as it glided past her, but was intrigued once again when the crystal lit up even brighter at it's approach. The only magician present suddenly began talking to himself in ways that hardly made sense to her uneducated ears while drawing out diagrams in the sand with the toe of one battered boot.

"…Transitive properties…"

"… Polar bias."

"Mathematically possible…"

He looked up at her with an evil smirk that almost didn't frighten her. Almost.

"Thank you for your assistance Princess. It's been an enlightening morning." He pivoted on his heel and signaled to the eel in a way that gave her the impression he was going to pull off another one of his thin air escapes.

"Mozenrath!" She was shocked by how much of Hasim's early morning desperation flooded into her voice. The pleasantly thoughtful smile on his face when he turned back distracted her momentarily. What did she need to tell him...

He suddenly realized what he was doing and promptly adjusted his features to something far more familiar.

"Next month. On the 13th. In Rashaputt." Came out a jumbled heap. He tapped his chin and repeated it silently to himself.

"It's a date then. Your Highness." He gave her a mocking bow and made to leave yet again. Jasmine was not about to allow him to have the last word. She was getting really tired of him smearing her title with his snide tones.

"Jasmine."

"Excuse me?" His posture was caught halfway through some magical gesture as he craned his neck back for the second time in the past minute.

"My name. It's Jasmine. Use it." Mozenrath chuckled and shook his head while he completed the spell.

"Whatever you say… Jasmine."

And he was gone.

The Princess stood for a few minutes, watching the place he'd disappeared from, just in case it was a trick. She then mounted the rug and sent them both soaring into the atmosphere at breakneck speed. No matter how harsh the wind bit at her face or howled in her ears during the long ride back to Agrebah, the puzzle that was Mozenrath refused to leave her thoughts.

A/N- Ha! You thought I died didn't you? I regret that this chapter took so long for me to post. Life has been getting in the way left, right and sideways lately. I'm working on editing the next chapter, but I'm probably going to remain busy until the end of December so I won't make any promises I might not be able to keep.

My favorite part of this is right at the end, when Moze is getting his nerd on. If anybody has theories about how he's going to put that big, glowing crystal to use, you're probably right! :-) smarty pants.

Side note... since I am relatively sure that we are all hard core villain lovers in this fandom, I must recommend the blue genius that is Megamind. This movie completed my life in so many ways... total win!

Thanks to all my reviewers and everyone that is still reading! Happy Holidays!