Help, I have done it again
I have been here many times before
Hurt myself again today
And the worst part is there's no one else to blame
_
He landed unceremoniously in his throne room, falling to the floor in an undignified heap. He groaned, there was a sharp, piercing pain in his shoulder and he raised his arm, groping at it cautiously. What Mozenrath pulled out was a jagged cut of glass, perhaps three inches long and an inch and a half wide. He held his hand to his wound and grimaced painfully, the blood welling up against his glove.
It did not escape his detection how the leather seemed to drink it up.
"Master. Master back!" Xerxes came swimming…err…flying into the room, looking concerned as he saw the blood. "Master hurt?" he asked.
"What do you think you simpleton!" Mozenrath snarled. "Get out of my way!" he stood up and stalked through the dark halls, looking for his medical supplies. It wasn't that bad. Upon further inspection the glass had not gone that deep and the cut was mostly superficial. He patched it up with minimal effort.
"Well that was a colossal waste of time." He snarled out to no one in particular, though he was vaguely aware of Xerxes presence in the room. It had been all fun and game for about five minuets before everything descended into chaos. "Serves me right for following one of her plans." Mozenrath said, effectively transferring all blame to Mirage. Once he had cleaned himself and changed into fresh suit he eyed the shard.
It lay on the table where he had thrown it after pulling it from his arm. Despite a bit of dried blood on the edge it was no worse for wear, and still potentially useful. Almost as if drawn to it, Mozenrath lifted the shard, took a deep breath, and looked into his reflection.
A baleful, lonesome eye socket filled with blue flame stared back at him.
Her jerked his face away in time to see another green flame shoot angrily towards him.
"You fool! You insolent fool!" Mirage raged at her son, her claws tearing down towards him. "Just what did you think you were trying to pull back there! Stealing the mirror for yourself!"
"Ever so sorry mother dear." Mozenrath shot back triumphantly. "But then again you were intending to give it to me anyway weren't you?"
Mirage balked, realizing her mistake. "Of course." He said quickly. "I just don't like being made a fool of is all."
"Really? I'd think you'd be used to it by now." Mozenrath grinned to hear the hissing venom of her voice. "But still, here." He tossed the remaining shard to her. "Never let it be said I was anything less than a dutiful son."
Mirage caught the shard with one hand and held it cautiously. "Well at least it's no longer a threat to my plans." She said with consideration and then looked at Mozenrath, eyeing him from top to bottom. A spiteful glare came over her face. "Tell me Mozie darling, did you like what you saw?"
Now it was Mozenrath's turn to lose his temper. "You witch!" He snarled and his energy flung itself at the cat woman. "You knew!"
Mirage vanished and let the energy crash into the ceiling, sending plaster and debris everywhere. "Why so angry at me my son? You knew your condition was getting worse by the day. Surely you realized that eventually…"
"I didn't know it was that bad!" Mozenrath hollered.
"Of course not! Your natural resilience had determination has made you last years longer than any other would have. If another mortal had born the gauntlet they wouldn't have survived a year before it consumed them utterly." Mirage defended flippantly. "Still, you knew the price the gauntlet demanded. This should come as no shock."
"But not yet." Mozenrath argued. "Not now. I have too much left unfinished! Too much left to conquer."
Mirage gave a smooth, unfeeling smile that left a coldness between them. "Then you'd better get a move on my son. I doubt you have much longer left before the glove finishes its work." She began to dissipate in a shower of green spark.
Despite his better senses, Mozenrath reached forward and grabbed his mother's skirts as he had not since he was a child. She stopped her leaving and looked down at him from her place in the air. "What happens next?" he demanded to know. "What happens after…" he clenched his hand and tried to control himself. "After it finishes."
There was something in those poisonous green eyes. Pity? No certainly not. Disappointment more likely. "Whatever comes after for people like you and I Mozenrath." She said in a level tone and disappeared, leaving behind a sense of emptiness.
"This is the worst idea you have had to date!" Iago shouted into Aladdin's ear as they flew towards the land of the black sand at top speed. "Whatever happened to the catch and release thing we had going up till now?"
"Up till now it was just Mozenrath. But this time he had Mirage working with him." Aladdin explained. "Just one of them is bad enough, but if those two have formed an alliance then we've really got a problem."
"Yeah bird man. One of them alone is a big threat, but adding evil incarnate to wonder boy there and that equals…ehh…" The Genie paused, trying to figure out the punch line.
"What blue boy what does it equal?!" The red parrot squawked.
"Lots of explosions and decimation!" Genie responded. "The point is it can't be good news."
"Guys will you quiet down!" Aladdin started in on them. "Mozenrath probably isn't expecting us yet but there's no telling what traps he might have laid out in advance." Already they were approaching the shifting sands where the gold and black deserts intertwined. Aladdin would never tell his friends, but he always felt a sort of invisible chill when the sky changed from the warm sunlight to the thick, dour haze of the black sands border. It was as if the air itself was determined to suck the joy and hope from you.
He didn't say it out loud, but there was another reason he was determined to go to the Citadel. Aladdin hadn't thought about it at the time, but as he'd entered the cache to find Mozenrath, he had easily gotten close to the sorcerer without being noticed. If he'd been a smarter man, perhaps he would have taken the opportunity to end things then and there. But Mozenrath's attention was focused with singular attention on the mirror. Curiosity overcoming better sense, Aladdin had peered close as he dared to find out what Mozenrath was looking at.
And had seen the wrecked and ruined reflection that Mozenrath saw.
The hollow and dejected form of life that filled the mirror had left his blood cold.
He had cringed and just avoided letting out a noise of horror. But it didn't matter. Mozenrath had made it out and destroyed the glass entirely, although Genie had taken hours to collect every last shard he could find just to be sure. The missing piece in the middle of the mirror had only spurred on his desire to investigate further. Jasmine had wanted to come along, but she was still nursing minor wounds and seeing to the city repairs.
What did he want the mirror for? Surely not just to see what he really is. Was that was Mozenrath really was? It was hard to believe that under so much preening and arrogance was that wretched and destroyed creature in the mirror. And Aladdin found it hard to believe that if Mozenrath couldn't conjure an illusion to hid a bone arm, that he would somehow be able to make one strong enough to hide that from the world.
He had used the missing shard and Mirage's appearance as a pretext to explain why he had to go. But there were a lot more unanswered questions.
And Aladdin was getting a little tired of being on the I-Don't-Know-What's-Going-On side of things.
As they approached the kingdom of the black sands carpet slowed down and brought them as close as he could. The crystals were already glowing dimly on the black spiked spires around the street. Genie and Carpet backed away a few more feet until there was just the barest flicker. "Okay, you guys stay here in case of trouble. Iago and I will go in alone and signal you if we get into any danger."
"Going into the land of the black sand is dangerous!" Iago yelled out rancorously. "I.E. We are in danger!"
Aladdin sighed and clamped the birds beak shut. He reminded himself that he really should have brought Abu for this. But if he needed someone to get a message out fast, Iago was far more likely to get there just due to being able to fly. "Iago hush! If we want to get into the Citadel without being noticed, Genie and Carpet need to stay here. And you need to be quiet." He added meaningfully.
"I miss the times when you decide not to take me along on these adventures. You remember those?" Iago said as the snuck into the nearest building. The Citadel loomed threateningly high overhead on its cliff precipice.
"I don't know why you're so worried." Aladdin teased. "You faced down a giant winged serpent and Mechanicales to save Thundra. You defeated Sadira back when she tried to switch places with Jasmine. You even helped defeat Mozenrath twice."
"None of which was dependent upon my willingness to place myself directly in harms way." The parrot argued. "I am a conniving, deceitful rouge who occasionally manages to make good and don't you forget it."
Aladdin rolled his eyes as they continued. Mamlucks didn't usually patrol out this far, but Aladdin could see a few of them just a street or two away. He readied his sword, though he would really prefer not to engage at all. It would be better if they could get through the city entirely unnoticed. He snuck around the buildings and gestured to Iago to fly up closer and see how many there were.
"Make the parrot do the scout work." Iago grumbled but took off. He came back only a few moments later, looking a bit weirded out. "Ah Al, I think you better come see this for yourself."
"What is it? Mozenrath?" He said warily.
"No the wiz kids no where in sight. But it might be better if he were. Least it would explain this."
Aladdin followed the bird out into the open, his sword at the ready until he saw what had Iago so unusually spooked, even for him. "What the…"
The mamlucks were standing in a circle in the center of the town, none of them acknowledging him or in fact each other. Even when he got close enough to reach out and touch one it did no more that give the customary annoyed moan and turn it's attention back to the center of the circle.
"I've never seen this many mamlucks at once." Aladdin marveled when he felt sure they weren't going to attack. "I didn't even know there were this many."
"That Moze is a busy boy." Iago said with grim inflection.
"What's going on? Can you see what their looking at?" Aladdin asked.
Iago flew up further and held a wing up over his eyes. "Yeah there's just one mamlucks in the middle not doing anything."
"Just one?" Aladdin looked towards the building until he found a ladder and climbed up the roof. He jumped as a support bean caved in under his weight and he had to jump to the next building to avoid going through. Iago flew after him, pointing to the lone mamluck standing perfectly still.
Aladdin peered down. "Hey…isn't that…?"
The thing that had once been Destaine turned its head with disturbing cognition, looking at the gathered mamlucks. He opened his mouth, the sound of stitches ripping against the lips echoing in the dark streets.
Aladdin felt his stomach churn as a scent of decay pervaded the air.
No noise came forth, no sound at all, but slowly, as though moved by a breeze, the mamlucks began to shift back and forth in unison.
"Al." Iago said with a tremble in his voice. "Something is really really wrong here." He warned.
"Yeah but what? And is it something Mozenrath is doing?"
"Somehow I doubt it." Iago observed.
"Well that just adds onto the questions I have for Mozenrath once we find him." Aladdin confirmed. "Come on."
"Hey I'm with you kid, those undead guys are even creepier than usual."
Aladdin was still a little surprised to find that the rest of the streets were entirely barren, devoid of anything but shadows and sand. "Every mamlucks in the city must be back there."
"Least it makes the Citadel a little easier to get into." Iago observed. "Still…has it occurred to you that this might be a trap?" He said with his usual clandestine sarcasm.
"With Mozenrath I just assume everything is one big trap." Aladdin admitted as they approached the doors. But he felt at least secure enough to put the big scimitar down.
There was no one in the entry hall. The rooms were as silent as the grave as the half snuck through. By the time they reached the throne room and nothing had happened they abandoned the pretext of subterfuge and looked at one another in confusion.
"What is going on?" Aladdin said. "By now Mozenrath has usually had a sneak attack or a trap…or at the very least showed up and fired off a few magical bolts or something."
"I don't know about you but I'm starting to feel ignored." Iago agreed.
"Fair enough." Aladdin said. "Where do we start."
"The highest room in the tallest tower! How should I know?" Iago shouted out rancorously.
A screech responded and they both turned to see Xerxes fly off down the hall. "Intruder! Intruder!" the grey eel yelled out.
"Iago after him!"
"What? I'm not putting my claws on slug breath over there!" He argued.
"I didn't say catch him! He's going straight for Mozenrath!" Aladdin said and ran off after the familiar. The little creature was faster than he would have given credit for. He snapped and zipped around halls like a whip crack.
"Master! Master Mozenrath! Aladdin here!"
"We may not want Mozenrath to knew we're here ahead of time either." Aladdin admitted and his parrot rolled his eyes.
"Eeeuch! One unagi special coming up." Iago answered and flapped as fast as he could, making good speed as he rounded the corner and moved down the hall. Xerxes screeched as he flew right into the trap and Iago landed on him, both animals crashing to the floor.
Aladdin caught up and took off his turban, wrapping up Xerxes in it and tying off the top. "Alright Xerxes…" he said, a little impatient. "Where's Mozenrath." There was a sharp angry sound from inside the turban, but Aladdin held on tightly. "Come on Xerxes, where is he?"
"Spill it ya walkin sushi buffet."
"Master busy! Not see nobody. Not even see Xerxes." There was a little note of complaint in his voice at the last comment.
"What's he up to?" Aladdin asked instead. Xerxes wasn't smart enough to trick them, but he could occasionally drop hints when he got flustered enough.
"Xerxes quiet. Not sayin nothing." Came the muffled protest.
Aladdin gave Iago a wicked grin. "Okay then, we'll just help ourselves to some of Mozenrath's treasures. I'm sure he won't blame you for that."
"Filthy street rat not touch! Xerxes tell master."
"Ah what's wrong? I'm sure he won't miss a few books…"
"Street rat no disturb Mozenrath…screech!"
"Aha! So he is in the library." Aladdin confirmed, hearing the sorrowful noise from the turban. He took the turban and tied it off, hanging Xerxes from one of the wall sconces. "Come on Iago."
Mozenrath paced back and forth in the library, hand on his chin as he turned over plan after plan in his head. There has to be a way. There is always a way. Became his mantra. He had survived this long. Longer than was to be expected if he could believe Mirage. There was no reason to think he couldn't live even longer.
He eyeballed the hourglass with glowing sand. It was hard to judge, especially now. The hourglass measured the years remaining to him. That was hardly indicative of how much time he had left physically. Especially given the nature of his problem. Most men would have been dead after the gauntlet took its initial price. Even the last scouring of his body would have ended a lesser man. So who was to say that he would not be in some form of life even should the mirrors reflection prove to be accurate.
He worked well under pressure. He fed off of it. He had already run through several possibilities.
The Elixir of Life had been one. He kept it in his mind for future reference, but in all likelihood if the elixir hadn't solved his problem the first time it was unlikely to do any good on a second go round. He had some suspicions that he had bought some time with the body switching incident. A theory given credence by his continued existence. He had felt drained before attempting to switch souls with Aladdin but despite the attempt being a failure, his body had been strengthened up till now.
He would be greatly comforted to know he had sapped a few years off Aladdin's life before he went.
Now there's a possibility. He considered. If he had managed to drain Aladdin's life force once, who was to say he couldn't do it again…
Mozenrath groaned. That would mean dealing with the street rat, his princess, and their litany of friends, allies and pets. He had already involved them far too much in this, and to no avail. Any more intrusion would not end well.
The doors burst open and Mozenrath cursed whatever fate and spun his threads.
He turned and tried to look as non-chalant as possible as Aladdin pointed a threatening sword at him. "Mozenrath…" he started.
"Aladdin! How nice of you to visit. Sorry but I'm really not up to entertaining guests at the moment so if you'll kindly make an appointment with Xerxes on the way out…" he gestured and Aladdin hesitated to advance as the sorcerers cape and turban whipped about in the magical field.
But it didn't stop him. "Not yet Moze…you've got a few things to answer for."
"Oh far more than you can count I'm sure." He grinned. "But then again your mathematical knowledge is sure to be quite limited street rat." The magic held for a moment and Aladdin jerked to the side, narrowly avoiding a flare of energy meant for his head.
"I assure you Aladdin I am not in the mood for this right now." He said with a clearly annoyed inflection.
"Yeah, because we were in the mood for you to burn down half of Agrabah." Aladdin shot back, grabbing hold of a vase and throwing it at the sorcerer to distract him.
"Oh come on I hardly got through half." Mozenrath shrugged. "Maybe burnt out a few hovels…say. I don't suppose you're angry because I happened to get yours in the mix?"
Aladdin dodged behind a pillar and reassessed his position. He'd already sent Iago back to get Genie and carpet. The mamlucks were bad enough but he had this gut feeling that something was wrong here. And worse, he wasn't entirely sure Mozenrath was aware of it.
Of course talking to him about it was another matter.
"I'm surprised…left the Genie and Carpet behind…that was a given. But was your princess too injured to come and help?" Mozenrath gloated. Maybe this was his lucky day after all. He shot a bolt through the pillar, slicing it in two as Aladdin moved to the next one.
"What about you?" Aladdin shot back. "I didn't exactly have to fight my way past a hoard of mamlucks to get here."
Mozenrath's gauntlet flared for a moment but then he paused. That was actually something worth considering. "Can't say I ordered a coffee break." He muttered. "I suppose a reprimand will be in order…though once you've been turned into a shambling half dead servant really what sort of punishment is left.
"I wouldn't know." Aladdin shot back, looking around the pillar to see where Mozenrath was. "Maybe you should ask Destaine."
There was a long pause and Aladdin swore he heard a sharp intake of breath.
"And why would I need to do that?"
"Because whatever's happening, he's in the middle of it, literally."
"You need to start making sense street rat." Mozenrath's voice was beyond mocking now. There was a coldness to it that only happened when he was pushed.
"While I was on my way here the mamlucks did nothing to stop me." Aladdin said, using the dialogue to distract the necromancer and move closer. "I saw them…gathered in the middle of the town." He snuck a look and saw that Mozenrath was turned the opposite direction. Somewhere in the flinging of magic and plaster dust he had lost track of where his quarry had hidden and was now more focused on what was being said.
"And what were they doing?" Mozenrath asked with a note of actual curiosity.
"Nothing. Absolutely nothing. At least until Destaine opened his mouth."
Now there was a trace of something in the way he spoke. "Mamlucks can't speak Aladdin…"
"I didn't say he spoke." Aladdin said right behind the sorcerer. Mozenrath spun around and Aladdin moved quick, bringing the hilt of the sword down on his brow…hard. "I said he opened his mouth."
Mozenrath grunted in pain and his vision went dizzy for a moment. He flung his gauntlet around, sending the flames into Aladdin's face. The street rat jerked aside just in time and put a knee to Mozenrath's chest, slamming him down onto the marble tiling. He grasped the gloved wrist and pinned it as best he could, struggling not to let the sorcerer up off the floor. "Now…like I was saying…you have some things to answer for."
The sorcerer groaned and rolled his eyes. "Very well Aladdin. Since you seem to have me at a temporary disadvantage…"
Aladdin scoffed. "First off, why were you after the mirror?"
"Who said I wanted it?" Mozenrath answered back with equal derision. "I was doing someone a favor."
"And I'll bet that someone was Mirage." Aladdin grit his teeth. "Are you in league with her? Are you two working together?"
"Hardly!" he defended. "We made a bargain, the mirror was part of it. And you can take my word for it this was a one-time deal."
It was Aladdin's turn to roll his eyes. "I'll keep that in mind the next time I decide to trust you."
Mozenrath's grin was positively wolfish. "Why Aladdin you wound me. I may be evil but at least I'm honest about it." He struggled under the stronger man's hold and was quickly pinned down again. "Now then, about my mamlucks…"
"Nu-uh. I'm not done yet. When we pieced the mirror back together a piece of it was missing. I know you well enough to know you've got it somewhere on you…"
"Apparently you don't know me at all. You want that shard? Go bother Mirage about it with my blessing." He meant it in all sincerity but of course Aladdin took it as an insult. "I don't have it." He reiterated strongly.
"Fine." Aladdin answered but did not let go. "What about what you saw in the mirror?"
Mozenrath quickly locked down the look of shock. "I don't know what you're talking about." He said smoothly.
"Mozenrath I am not in the mood for games. You're lucky I haven't already dragged you back to the palace dungeons. I was right behind you when you looked into the mirror. I saw your reflection."
"Funny all I saw was a street rat in royal clothing."
"Stop trying to be so offensive." Aladdin directed the conversation, refusing to rise to Mozenrath's jibs. "Answer the question."
"Aladdin…" he started, a sour comment fresh on his tongue. But it didn't make it out. He could feel a twisting sensation across his left pectoral muscle. A harsh soreness throbbing deep inside the muscle was the only precursor to what he could tell was coming. Not now! He pushed against Aladdin's chest with his free hand but the strength was quickly leaving him.
A pained expression made Aladdin release just a little. He could feel Mozenrath going rigid under his, his eyes trying hard to hide something. "Mozenrath?" he started.
"G-get off me." The sorcerer whispered in a breathless voice and then shoved Aladdin back with surprising strength. "Get off!" he roared and recoiled, grasping his shoulder and doubling over. He let out a dry heave as the pain clawed into him, raking at his chest and back. Heat, heat like the sun blazed into his flesh and Mozenrath strained to keep control of himself.
"Mozenrath what the hell is going…on." A scent hit the room and Aladdin felt an automatic gag reflex building. He grabbed the end of the cloak and covered his mouth and nose, coughing as he backed away from the source. There was a sound in the air like fat popping in a skillet.
The sorcerer was sweating so bad his hair clung to his cheeks. He tore off his turban and mantle, flinging off his many layers of clothing until his torso was exposed. Literally. He fell to the floor, mouthing out breathless screams, too proud to really let himself be in agony in front of Aladdin. It was bad enough he could see the look of sheer revulsion in the hero's eyes as his flesh peeled away from bone. It tore away from his shoulder and up over his back, blood drenching his clothing and stomach.
Aladdin watched, unable to look away as the flesh wrinkled and turned to slick ash on the Citadel floor. Mozenrath made a noise of absolute suffering behind his teeth and collapsed, his eyes fluttering. He went limp and passed out, either from pain or exhaustion, just as Iago returned with Genie.
"The cavalry's here…ew!" Genie automatically turned a vivid shade of green and gaged. "What is that smell?" he transformed into yellow suit with a strange symbol on the front and the words Radioactive Containment Suit under it.
"Euch! Smells like somebody burnt the pot roast in here!" Iago commiserated and covered his beak. He spotted Mozenrath first and looked to Aladdin. "Geez kid what did you do?"
Aladdin had the presence of mind to at least look insulted. "I didn't do anything!" he said. "He just…it just started…doing that." He pointed to the gauntlet. Genie crept closer, now wearing a blue, skin tight uniform with an insignia on the chest. He carried a small metallic box and waved it over Mozenrath's still figure. "Is he…?"
"Life signs are low captain, but he's alive." Genie confirmed. "Can't see how after a whammy like that." He grimaced as he saw just how far the damage had gone.
Aladdin came up beside Genie and looked down at the sorcerer. He was unconscious but still trembling in pain, the blood pooled under his body now congealing in his cloths and hair. "Genie…is it safe to transport him?"
"Ehh…yeah. Should be safe enough. Why?"
"We're taking him back to Agrabah with us." Aladdin bent down and took the gauntlet off, careful not to disturb the man who wore it.
Iago landed on his shoulder. "Al I know he's kinda pathetic looking but please, please tell me we're taking him right to the dungeons."
The hero sighed. "I'll…let you know."
A pair of sick yellow eyes watched the magic carpet flying over, headed out of the dead kingdom. It was high above but one could just made out the pale figure of a young man being spirited away.
The mamlucks that was Destaine smiled, the remaining stitches holding his lips together stretching and pulling against the skin. He lifted an emaciated hand to his jaw and pulled them out, unafraid of pain or blood. He didn't have any yet. But soon. Soon enough.
His gaze followed the direction of the carpets flight till he saw the golden onion shaped towers in the distance.