Chapter 08: Distractions

Jasmine finished the final touches of placing a bandage on Aladdin's back as he finished explaining what he'd learned that evening. It was fully nightfall by the time Aladdin, Abu, and Rajah returned with Carpet to the Palace. Jasmine was at least thankful Carpet was able to meet them, but it wasn't long before she had the answer to the question she'd had in her mind - what had made them so late?

The three of them - Aladdin, Jasmine and Genie - agreed to meet apart from their friends at first, particularly for Aladdin to give every bit of information to Genie that he knew. It had been Genie who insisted that they meet before calling for an all-group gathering. Abu was aware that was an odd thing for the semi-phenomenal being to ask, but left the three to make sure that Rajah, Carpet, and Iago were okay. So the former monkey didn't hear the whole story Aladdin had to impart, beginning to end.

"That's all I know," Aladdin said as he finished, his shoulders sinking slightly. "I hoped to learn more from Nefir, but I didn't expect the interruption from Abis Mal or getting ambushed by Faroud and his men. Instead of being able to protect Abu and Rajah from them, Abu and Rajah ended up protecting me."

"That narrows things down - it's more helpful than you think, kiddo." Genie said, his expression serious. "Since we know Nefir's coming tomorrow, we can set a trap. Maybe we can catch them and know for sure what this spell really does. Doesn't mean that I'm not going to stop trying to figure things out before then. But on that encounter, I definitely think that could have ended worse for you if the others hadn't shown up."

"Didn't mean to worry all of you," Aladdin said. His head lowered, but Jasmine used her hand to tilt his chin, turn his face toward hers.

"Aladdin, hey. None of us want you to feel bad about anything you did. I agree with Genie. That's more than we knew before and it's helpful. It was risky, but I'm glad it worked out better than it could have."

"Wish we knew more about what kind of effects this is supposed to have on them, though. Genie, you said that there was a possibility of this being a time-limited spell," Aladdin hesitated a moment, wondering if he really wanted to know the answer. "I know you haven't found anything extreme for the spell yet, but what else could happen with this, besides possibly turning them permanently human?"

Genie thought for a long moment. "Well, here's the thing. There could be a number of different possibilities. Some of them mild, some of them not good, and some really not good. It's a very old tome, one that doesn't have any matching parallels with other spells I've come across written in the same language. I'm not worried about it considering none of them have had side effects yet. If I find what can protect them or better yet - the cure - then the rest doesn't matter. I don't want them to panic, Al."

"I don't either, but don't you think we should give them a heads up as to what might happen?" Aladdin asked, his brows furrowed. "I really think we should..."

"If I find out anything definitively, you'll all know at the same time. " Genie said quickly. "Like I said, I don't want to worry them - or you two - unnecessarily. I don't think we should be making them worried about Nefir's words unless we know what it is."

Aladdin rolled his eyes to the ceiling, feeling slightly exasperated that there was little they could do in the meantime. After a long moment, he sighed, nodding slowly.

Jasmine nodded between the two of them. "Glad we're in agreement. Let's get back to the others."

"So Nefir and his guys are comin' back tomorrow?" Iago said, his hand stroking the underside of his chin and beard before he realized what he was doing and stopped.

Abu grinned. "I'm looking forward to seeing them fall for our traps. We have some good ones, and backups to match." He turned to Aladdin. "Thanks for looping us in on the plan. You're probably right that we might be able to get something from them once they're caught."

Aladdin nodded, but Abu noticed that something about Aladdin's smile didn't reach his eyes. He was worried about something, but didn't speak of it, changing the subject. "Since we have everything ready, maybe now we can actually get to what you guys were able to do today, as promised."

"Is it really a good idea for us to do something so...casual? After everything that happened?" Rajah asked wearily.

Genie grinned. "Absolutely the best time! I can't stay long because I have to get back to my search, but I wanted to check in to see if you all were feeling okay."

Abu flexed his arm and grinned. "All good here."

Carpet signed quickly. "Fine. My hand feels better now too, though Jasmine told me not to take the bandage off for now."

Rajah snorted. "Given the events of the day, I'm surprised all of us are standing here in one piece. But I am well, other than tired."

"For once, I'm with the furball. I-I mean former furball." Iago stammered and held up his hands in protest as Rajah gave him a side-eye glance. The former tiger growled under his breath, though his human growl didn't project quite as far as being a tiger. "Kinda, sorta, maybe in-between furball? Anyway, the point is that I'm fine, but tired. Enough with the distraction. Can we get this going and go to bed after?"

Aladdin nodded. "Totally fine with that. Rajah and Abu, why don't you guys start? Doesn't make sense for me to say anything 'cause I don't want to put words in your mouth. What did you think about today?"

Abu motioned with his hand for Rajah to speak. Rajah looked uncertain at first, his eyes darting between Aladdin and Abu, but he cleared his throat. "We were able to walk among the Marketplace for quite some time. It was put to good use, I felt. Abu and I talked with several merchants and were able to haggle down prices for a few souvenirs for everyone. Though it was a bit...odd at first."

"Odd? How?" Carpet asked, genuinely curious. Iago looked like he couldn't care less, though his attention perked when Rajah mentioned souvenirs.

Abu grinned. "What the big guy over here is saying is that people in the Marketplace were a little intimidated, at first. Rajah's taller than most of the merchants so most of them were kinda willing to just let Rajah name his price and go. Aladdin told Rajah he needed to relax a little more, gave him some lines to try to sound friendly. Pretty soon, Rajah was a pro! Even met a visiting merchant who was just as tall as him. They got along pretty well, actually."

Rajah looked sheepish, rubbing the back of his neck. "Admittedly, it wasn't terrible. I had a nice long chat about different types of fish with him. Ones that tasted the best, at least."

Jasmine gave Rajah a hug, which surprised the former tiger. "That's my Rajah. You did so well."

Rajah's face flushed.

"He's not even saying the best part!" Abu said, taking hold of the story. "We got to play kickball with the street rats. Aladdin played with us too. Rajah was so worried about the kids giving him attention, but they really just wanted him to play with them. All of us really."

Aladdin smiled. "We had a few good games actually. Abu, even without a tail, you were kicking the ball with your feet and moving almost as fast as you usually do as a monkey."

"Yeah, I know," Abu looked sly and confident for a moment before wincing. "None of the kids recognized me being a monkey. We had to be careful not using our names to avoid confusion. Rajah almost slipped and called me Abu, but I improvised. Figured it'd be too much to try to explain why I have the same name as 'Aladdin's monkey.'"

"But you ARE Aladdin's monkey!" Iago said, which made the group laugh.

"It was a fun game," Aladdin said. "Rajah and Abu both did well. We played a few with the street rats but these two got tired so we went back to my place to rest. And...well you guys know what happened from there." It seemed Aladdin wanted the distraction of lighter events that day as well, at least to move aside the harrowing way the day ended for them.

"Okay, I've gotta know now," Abu turned to Carpet. "How did Carpet end up burning his hand?"

Carpet frowned at the monkey in stony silence, folding his arms across his chest. His tiny face puffed out as he huffed out a breath.

"You were talkin' a lot before, kid, but you clam up the moment someone mentions your hand?" Iago asked, rolling his eyes. "Good grief."

"Leave him alone, Iago," Jasmine mildly scolded. "And it was a good day before that. Guessing from the way Carpet's glaring, it's up to you to tell some of the story."

Iago groaned. "Fine. Jasmine took us around the Palace to shadow her and the Sultan for mostly royal meetings, at first. Thought it was gonna be boring, but it wasn't too bad. Carpet entertained some of the dignitaries with some tricks and guessing games, and I had the splendid task of tellin' some of the adventures we've been on."

Jasmine leaned in close to whisper in Aladdin's ear. "Heavily embellished in his favor as the hero."

Aladdin grinned back at her. "Wouldn't expect anything less."

"Hey, if I'm gonna have to do the human thing, might as well go ALL out. Make a good impression! At least while it lasts." Iago gave a knowing glance to Genie, who caught the irritated meaning behind the former parrot's tone. Genie's face turned a deeper shade of blue, his expression wincing, but he didn't say anything. "Anyway, Jas said she'd wanted us to get some practice talkin' with people, but it's a lot easier talkin' as a human than as a parrot. At least that part of it I could get used to."

Carpet visibly relaxed. "I saw some of the same dignitaries from yesterday when Razoul got mad at me for flying around the Palace Halls. At first I thought they'd be mad at me, but they wondered why I could fly. I told them I had magic boots that gave me powers, at least in terms of the story. The real one's too complicated." Carpet shrugged. "Anyway, they weren't as mad this time around. I even let one of them fly a little bit before bringing him back to the ground. They were definitely less mad this time around. The Sultan was really happy. Even Razoul looked like he enjoyed the meeting."

"Razoul give you any trouble?" Aladdin asked, his tone serious.

Carpet quickly shook his head. "I think he really regretted the way he treated me. Even came up after the meeting to say what a good job I did entertaining the group."

"That surprised me. Razoul isn't usually so quick to approach," Jasmine admitted. She gave a glance in Aladdin's direction, mouthed a silent "What happened?" to him that no one else noticed. Aladdin knew he hadn't told Jasmine yet what happened between him, Razoul and Carpet the previous day. Aladdin wasn't about to let Carpet tell that story now, nor tell the story in front of him to make him feel uncomfortable. Later, he mouthed back.

"So after all this talkin' and carryin' on - I get hungry," Iago continued. "I make the suggestion that we need somethin' to eat. The Princess decides it would be a great time to use our culinary skills to make treats."

Carpet signed quickly, his expression sheepish. "We left some sweets for you guys."

Abu visibly licked his lips. "Sweets? Oh man, I'm ready for that!"

Rajah raised a brow, a small grin crossing his face. "At least have the courtesy to leave one for me."

"So between you guys getting souvenirs for us and us baking treats for you, we each have something for each other," Jasmine said.

Aladdin nodded. "I say that worked out well."

"So even if we point out the fact the former rug burned his hand after we did all the cookin'," Iago said, which made Carpet wince. "You guys have gotta see how this kid can put away food! Ever since he got a mouth and stomach, he's got a heck of an appetite. Think he'd put the monkey to shame."

Abu wiggled his brows in Carpet's direction. "Oh really? Should we take that as a challenge, then? See who can eat the most in our human forms?"

Carpet grinned widely. "You're on."

"Guys...I don't think it's a good idea for either of you to do something that'll make you wake up with stomach aches tomorrow," Aladdin said, lightly scolding, but he was trying not to laugh.

"Later then," Abu suggested. "We can probably squeeze it in while Genie's searching for a way to cure us."

Genie grinned then, but it seemed like Aladdin and Jasmine were the only ones to know that the smile didn't reach his eyes or match his unusually jovial tone. "You guys are gonna have to tell me who wins since I won't be around to see you compete."

"Count on it, Genie," Abu said, though his confident words were soon followed up by a loud yawn. From himself.

"Think that might be a good time to call it a night," Aladdin said. "We need to be ready tomorrow for our plan to work against Nefir, so get plenty of rest everyone."

Everyone was in agreement with that.

Jasmine woke in the middle of the night to realize that Aladdin wasn't beside her. It didn't take her long to find him standing on the balcony, looking up at the starry sky over Agrabah. It was sometime in the early morning. She wondered how much - or how little - her husband had slept.

Her tone was soft as to not startle him, but he still flinched when she spoke. "You should be taking your own advice, considering what we're doing tomorrow." A long silence passed between them, and Jasmine sought to fill the space. "Your back still hurt?"

He shook his head. "Not as bad as expected considering what happened."

"So what's bothering you? And trust me when I say I can tell."

Aladdin managed a small smile. "You usually do." He looked up at the sky again as Jasmine leaned against the balcony railing beside him. "I'm usually good about keeping things close to my chest, but I don't know how I feel about what we're keeping from them. They've gotta be asking questions. I know Abu is. Even I'd ask more about what's going on, if I were in their place."

Jasmine knew exactly what he meant. "About the potential side effects from the spell? How long they have before something bad happens? What did you tell Abu?"

"That's the thing. Abu and I have been around each other long enough to know when something's up. He knows that I know something, but he's not asking. Feel bad enough about not saying anything about the Thieves' Den to you earlier, but it wasn't meant to be more than what it was - info gathering. But knowing what we do now...this is bigger than that."

"Better that we don't make them unnecessarily worry about something that won't happen, like Genie said. I think Abu knows and trusts you enough to know that if you are ready to tell him, you will."

Aladdin turned to face her. "I can definitely tell what I managed to find out tonight is affecting Genie, too. He's very freaked out, probably more than when this whole thing started."

Jasmine's eyes widened. "How do you know?"

"Went to check in on him a little while earlier because I couldn't sleep. And...well, kind of speaks for itself as to how he was."

Aladdin had been quiet approaching Jafar's old lair. Walking down the quiet Palace halls while everyone was sleeping was always something that felt different compared to the daytime, when everything was a flurry of activity, especially with Genie's usually upbeat demeanor. But even in the early morning hours, it felt unusually quiet to him. It was telling that even as he approached the door to open it, it was quiet. The prince wondered if his semi-phenomenal friend was sleeping.

That changed quickly when Aladdin heard Genie's mildly anguished cry from beyond the door. Genie was speaking so loud and fast that he didn't hear Aladdin open the door with its usual creak.

"What am I doing? WHAT AM I DOING?" Genie put his head in his hands, his body facing away from where Aladdin stood at the doorway at the top of the stairs. Genie floated in the middle of the room, surrounded by massive stacks of books, scrolls, and very thick tomes. Most of the tomes were not as thick as the one Genie had read from initially - the one Nefir wanted - but they looked intimidating. "My friends are counting on me to figure this out and I keep doubling back over the same materials thinking I missed something! I need to think. Think, think, think."

Aladdin opened his mouth to say something - a word of comfort, or even just to announce that he was there. But the words didn't come. He didn't know what to say. Not that it mattered since Genie didn't stop speaking, his words in a rush.

"The time window is definitely narrowing. I'm not finding anything for either a cure, treatment or means of protection just to buy time. But the others aren't experiencing side effects yet, so that's good. If this is at least a three day spell, the others could start showing side-effects as soon as tomorrow! Not good. Maybe I should tell the kids that. But what if I'm wrong? Time's like these I wish I wasn't semi-phenomenal. That I could actually remember what to do. Quick as a snap." Genie snapped his fingers and teleported from one end of the room to the other. Aladdin thought that might give away that he was standing at the top of the staircase, but Genie still didn't notice him.

Still, what little Aladdin had learned from this conversation filled him with anxiety. Three days? Side effects? What kind of side effects are they? And what will happen to everyone if time runs out, if there is such a time limit?

"I really need to focus. Breathe." Genie took a long inhale, then exhaled slowly. Aladdin thought that would be the trick to calm him, but the semi-phenomenal being still looked anxious. "What I do know is that none of them will turn permanently human - every possibility has ruled that out definitively. That's the good part. At least Iago would be happy about that. But so much of this, if what I've found is true in comparison to similar spells...so much worse could happen. I don't want to tell them that only for it not to be true."

Worse? Aladdin's heart sank.

"I've gotta keep searching and figure out the truth of this tome - the cure and treatment feel close but I'm missing something important, I can feel it. Even if everything goes smoothly tomorrow with catching Nefir, I don't want to rely on the kids to do all of this. No, they shouldn't have to do ANY of this. This is my fault. This. Is. My. Fault."

If his heart could sink any lower than it already was, Aladdin figured it would be beneath the floor with the way he heard Genie's voice break. The silence then was too much, too heavy.

Even as he walked back up the stairwell and gently closed the door, Genie hadn't heard him. And Aladdin figured even if he'd found the words to say, it wasn't likely Genie would hear them anyway. Genie's focus - worry, really - might have spanned the stretch of multiple kingdoms away despite how close Aladdin and Genie stood in physical distance to each other. There was nothing to do with that. Not at all.

"Everything I could have said would just be a distraction. He wouldn't have heard me," Aladdin finished as he recounted the earlier memory. Jasmine hugged Aladdin at his side, her head resting on his shoulder in comfort. "The only thing I know that can really help is if we make sure everything with the trap for Nefir and his fiends works tomorrow. It'll help the others; it'll help Genie. If we find answers through that, there won't be anything to lose, despite all the bad possibilities Genie might've found."

Jasmine looked up at him, meeting his eyes. "Then let's do everything we can to make that happen. And hope that Genie can find what he's looking for between that."