Chapter 17: Iago

London

Cyrus and Taj were surprised. They were arguing about finding Alice in their hotel room, when suddenly her twin sister Victoria appeared in magic smoke and introduced herself.

"Victoria?" Cyrus asked. "It's really you?"

"In the flesh." She replied.

"I'm Cyrus." He said as he shook her hand. "I'm Alice's husband. This is my older brother Taj and he's holding my daughter Sophia."

"She's beautiful." Victoria remarked.

"We came here to look for you." Cyrus said. "We were told that the Snow Queen brought you back to Storybrooke and that the Queen of Hearts had been keeping you prisoner since you were a little girl."

"That's true." Victoria said.

"We tried to find you, and we used magic to track you here." Cyrus said. "Then, Alice went missing and we don't know where she is."

"I do." Victoria said. "I know where she is and who took her."

"What?" Taj asked skeptically. "How do you know? And how did you use magic to come here?"

"When Ingrid brought me to Storybrooke, she told me that the Wicked Witch was dead. She gave me her magic slippers so I could come here and see my father again." Victoria said, lying to Cyrus and Taj to get them to trust her.

"So where is she?" Cyrus asked.

"You must have seen the Shard while you were here." Victoria said. "It's the tallest building in the city. She's being kept there in a prison cell in the basement."

"Who took her?" Taj asked.

"The Queen of Hearts." Victoria said. "Somehow, she survived death again."

"She doesn't have magic here." Cyrus said.

"She found other ways to gain power." Victoria said. "We need to rescue Alice."

"How can we?" Cyrus asked.

"I'll get us in and out with the magic slippers." Victoria said.

"I thought this land had no magic?" Taj said.

"You cannot create new magic here." Victoria said. "These slippers already exist. I can still use them."

"Ok." Cyrus said. "Let's get Alice."

Victoria grinned, knowing she could finally confront Alice once they rescued her from the Queen of Hearts.

(*FLASHBACK*)

Agrabah

"Maybe next time you'll listen to me." Jafar said.

"There won't be a next time!" Iago yelled as he stood up.

"Fine." Jafar said. "Then you are no longer welcome here. Begone and never return."

Iago then disappeared in a cloud of magic smoke.

The Underworld

It had been one year since Iago was last here in the Underworld. He'd spent most of his life here surrounded by the dark caves and fire. He spent the last year in Agrabah as an apprentice to the evil sorcerer Jafar. Iago felt that his father, Hades, dumped him there because he didn't have time for him. Now, banished from Agrabah, Iago has returned to see his father. He entered his father's throne room to find him sitting alone on his throne.

"Iago!" Hades said. "What are you doing here?"

"It wasn't working out with Jafar anymore." Iago said. "I needed to leave and I had no where else to go, even though I'm clearly not welcome here."

"Not this again." Hades said. "Why is it so hard for you to believe that I love you?"

"You're always pushing me away." Iago said.

"Perhaps it's time you knew the truth." Hades said. "My life is coming to its end. I still have many years left, but I won't live another hundred. Before I die, I want to tell you the truth about our family. You cannot say a single word until I have finished the story. You must hear it from start to finish."

"Ok." Iago said.

"Long ago I married a human woman. She was not a goddess, but I didn't care. I loved her. Her name was Amara. At the same time, I heard a prophecy that said the son of a god would be my undoing. At the time, the only son of a god was my brother Zeus' son Hercules. So, I employed another beautiful woman named Megara to lure him to the Underworld where he would be my prisoner. Hercules is still chained up in the prison cells of the Underworld to this day. Overtime, Amara and I had three sons: Taj, Rafi, and Cyrus. Shortly after Cyrus was born, I had a moment of weakness. I betrayed Amara and had sex with Megara. Amara then found out that Meg was pregnant. So, she took our boys and fled the Underworld, ending our marriage. I never saw them in person again, though I have been watching them from down here all these years. Nine months after Amara left, Megara gave birth to a son. She wanted to name him, Iago. Then, I killed her. I blamed her for Amara's leaving. So, I decided to try and raise you by myself and make up for my mistakes with my other children. I guess I didn't do that great a job."

It took Iago some time to process this information. His father had another family from long ago. Iago grew up without a mother because Hades couldn't be bothered to take responsibility for his own actions. Iago only existed because his father couldn't be faithful to his wife. He was an accident. Iago had all sorts of emotions running through his head, but the primary one was anger.

"I'm sorry to hear that you're slowly dying." Iago said calmly. "Allow me to speed up the process."

Suddenly, Iago thrusted his arms forward and unleashed a blast of fire at his father, just as he had done with Jafar only minutes ago. Hades countered by thrusting his arms forward and unleashing his own fire blast at his son. Their two magic beams met in the middle and become locked. Jafar was right about Iago. He needed to learn to focus his power. Without it, Iago could be beaten. Even though Hades was slowly dying, he was still a powerful god. Hades' fire beam eventually destroyed Iago's and sent him flying backwards, just as Jafar had done in Agrabah. Iago grew even angrier that he had been beaten twice the same way by people he hated.

"I understand that you're angry..." Hades began to say.

"Shut up!" Iago yelled. "I hate you!"

Iago then disappeared in a cloud of magic smoke and reappeared in his father's bedroom. On Hades' bed was a magic gray staff. The head of the staff was a human skull. Iago knew that this magic staff had the power of the gods. This was something he would need to help him focus his powers and never be defeated by anyone again. The staff also had special powers, which included opening portals to other worlds. Iago decided to take his revenge against both Jafar and his father. However, he'd have to grow stronger first. So, Iago took the staff and magically transported himself back to the desert outside of Agrabah. Here, he would live and train until he was strong enough to defeat Jafar and rule Agrabah himself.