Chapter 10: A Difficult Exchange
"Carpet!" Aladdin called as he and Abu walked through the city streets. The Marketplace wasn't as busy as it usually was that day, so it gave them a greater chance to search. They made their way into an alley, which led to a dead end. Still, Aladdin really wanted to search every nook of the city, in case the former rug was hiding. "Carpet, where are you?"
Abu frowned. "Man, I'm really starting to worry about the little guy now. We should have already caught up with them."
"Nefir and his lot are tricky. I think we're lucky the Marketplace is light today. Makes it easier to search. Still, you're right, Abu. We should have caught up with them by now." Aladdin looked upward to the rooftops. "I think we may need to search topside. I was trying to avoid that if possible."
Abu raised a brow. "Why? That would make the most sense considering Carpet, Nefir and his goons can fly."
"Advantage is that we can have a better way of surveying the streets below. Disadvantage is rooftop hopping while following their flights. Without Carpet, it'll slow us down if we do run into Nefir and the others. We won't be able to chase them easily compared to on the ground."
"I think we should still try, especially if we want to find Carpet."
Aladdin nodded. "I know you're human and still getting used to your body. If you're not comfortable..."
Abu quickly shook his head, cutting Aladdin's words - and concern - short. "Nope, I'm with you. Don't really want to split up, especially with Nefir involved."
Aladdin smiled. "That's fair. Come on, let's go."
The two of them followed each other up on the rooftops of Agrabah, overlooking the city. Aladdin was ahead while Abu trailed behind. The prince made sure not to go too far ahead, waiting for Abu to catch up while also scanning the city streets below for any sign of Carpet or Nefir. But it was Abu who ended up being the first to spot them.
"Hey, Nefir and his goons are on that rooftop over there, three hops over. We can catch up to them if we go this way, take a short cut over. They don't see us yet."
Aladdin narrowed his eyes. "Wonder what's got their attention. Not to mention there's no sign of Carpet anywhere."
Aladdin and Abu took a hidden platform over that made them get a better vantage point of where Nefir and the other imps were gathered. It also gave them a better range to overhear the argument between the imps.
"I'm trying to think here! This is a very advantageous situation for us. We know for certain now that brat is suffering from the side-effects. We can use that to our advantage!"
Brat? Are they talking about Carpet? Aladdin wondered. He realized, with growing alarm, that they had also mentioned something about side effects. The very thing that Genie had warned them about before.
Aladdin's sudden inner alarm was shared by Abu, but in an more immediate outward reaction at what the former monkey saw from his vantage point, which differed from Aladdin's. The former monkey was less inclined to hide when he realized two of the imps were holding Carpet hostage by his arms. "Oh no you guys don't! Leave him alone!"
"Wait!" Aladdin tried to warn Abu, but Abu already sprinted towards the cluster of imps, who - apart from Nefir, began to panic. The distraction gave Carpet enough momentum to yank out of the grasp of the imps that held him. But even Aladdin could tell that the former rug and current kid was paler than usual. Something was wrong.
"You lay one more claw on my friend, and I'm definitely making it the last time you ever do!" Abu said as he pulled the ears of two of the imps, making them squeal.
"You buffoons," Nefir grumbled. "Get them!"
Aladdin was able to pick up a few spare stones and sling shot them in the direction of the two imps chasing Carpet, hitting them on the back of the head. They were knocked out cold as a result. Two down, three to go, the prince thought. His next target would have been Nefir himself, but Aladdin saw Carpet falter in mid-air. The kid was so visibly sick that it wasn't hard to notice that Carpet wasn't acting like himself. At least what he would act like in human form, anyway.
The moment Aladdin met Carpet's gaze, he knew exactly what would happen. Carpet had been floating in mid-air, preparing to fly away from the ongoing fight. But his concentration wavered, probably from whatever illness he might've been suffering from. Losing focus, he began to fall, just on the tip edge of the building they were all standing on.
"No!" Aladdin rushed towards him, just barely managing to reach to grab Carpet. He caught the kid in his arms, but the weight of both of them and Aladdin's momentum had been too much to keep Aladdin from falling over the edge of the building.
"Aladdin!" Abu cried, but his horror turned to relief when he realized Aladdin and Carpet wouldn't plunge to the street below. They fell a short ways to a ledge, with Aladdin landing on his back while holding Carpet in his arms. The prince winced, but it didn't look - to Abu's view - that either of them were seriously hurt from the fall.
Aladdin took a moment to catch his breath, looking up as the kid looked down at him with alarm. "I'm okay, Carpet. Close call though. Could have been worse than what it was. I'm more worried about you."
Carpet signed, his hands a little shaky. "I don't feel so good, Aladdin."
"I can see that," Aladdin frowned as he sat up. "Tell me what's wrong."
Carpet used one of his hands to pat his belly. A stomach ache? Aladdin wondered if this was something caused by the spell, or if it was a matter of Carpet eating too many sweets from the day before. Part of him hoped it was the latter, because that would explain a few things and wouldn't be the worst situation of the two.
"Well, I can see how having a stomach ache would affect your focus on flying. Maybe until it goes away, you keep yourself on the ground."
Carpet frowned, clearly upset with the idea, but he slowly nodded in agreement after a brief moment of thinking over it.
Aladdin put his palm against the boy's forehead. "No fever to speak of. Doesn't seem like you're sick in other ways either. For now at least."
"Oh, but do you really know that, former street rat?" Nefir taunted. "I wouldn't take a chance on assuming what the source of your friend's sickness may be. It could be fatal, you know?"
Aladdin quickly stood, positioning himself protectively in front of Carpet as the imp came face to face with where they were. Nefir's wide grin was definitely an ill-fitting one for the moment. "What do you mean by that, Nefir?"
"I could tell you, but I'll bet that your Genie already knows the answer. Oh wait, he's not talking to any of you, is he? He's too afraid of what you'll do if you know the truth of it all. Especially since the situation with your friends is his fault. Not my problem he didn't take proper precautions."
"If you know something, Nefir, you'd better spill it!" Abu snapped. Two of the imps were still knocked out from the stones that Aladdin used against them, but the other two were held firmly by their wings in Abu's hands, as the former monkey peered over the edge of the building from the roof. He looked between Nefir and Aladdin with partial irritation, partial concern.
"You're the one at a disadvantage here. Unless you plan on leaving your companions behind. You could run, you know." Aladdin taunted.
Nefir scoffed. "I don't think so, and your words don't sway me, boy. I have a strong feeling that your friend's issues here aren't a mere stomach ache. And I could easily prove it. Wanna place a bet?"
Aladdin's brow furrowed deeper. "Nope. I'm not making any bets with you. Because you always want something in return that's more than what the true cost is."
Nefir laughed. "Suppose I could provide you a freebie then. But first, a test." Aladdin wasn't prepared for Nefir to wiggle his fingers in a spell. He thought it was aimed at him, but instead it had been aimed at Carpet.
The prince wasn't sure what the point of a tickling spell aimed at Carpet would do. Carpet at first seemed to laugh, holding his stomach before he cringed, doubling over and coughing. Aladdin helped support the boy from fully falling over, but his concern turned to horror when he started seeing Carpet coughing up something that fell on the surface of the ledge they stood on. It wasn't exactly throwing up, but Carpet had definitely spat out something.
Aladdin gasped when he realized what it was, the dark purple strings a clear identifier. "Threads?!"
Nefir laughed. "That's what happens when humans who aren't meant to be human are under such a spell. At some point the spell will attempt to reverse, but not the way you think. Your Carpet's insides are probably turning into threads right now, as we speak. A quite painful demise, wouldn't you agree?"
Carpet looked up at Aladdin, without words to sign, a mix of fear and pain on his face. Aladdin wasn't sure what to say.
"You mean to tell us that we're dying? That if we don't find a way to change back before..." Abu asked, his voice quiet. He couldn't finish his thought. Aladdin saw that the former monkey wasn't letting go of the two imps he held anytime soon, but his friend was clearly shaken by the reveal.
"Indeed, I am. But like I mentioned, I'm willing to give you a freebie to show you that I'm not bluffing." Nefir dug one of his hands briefly in the sack on his back, before tossing a bracelet to Aladdin. The prince caught it with one hand. "It's a protective bracelet. It'll ward off any side effects from that spell. Of course, it won't last forever, but it'll at least buy you some time until your Genie finds the cure. Go ahead, try it."
Aladdin held the bracelet in one hand, studying it while his other arm held Carpet against him. He hesitated a moment, but when Carpet placed his hand on Aladdin's arm, that seemed to say everything that the boy thought in the moment, giving the prince permission. Go on.
Aladdin swallowed against the lump in his throat, hoping that this wasn't a trap, something Nefir was doing to make things worse. He slipped the bangle bracelet on Carpet's small wrist. It was oversized, but shrank to accommodate.
The effect was immediate. Carpet's strength seemed to return to him. The boy sat up on his own out of Aladdin's grasp, signing with his hands. "Aladdin, I feel better. That was really fast."
Nefir's grin widened. "See, I told you."
Aladdin ignored the imp. "You sure you're okay, Carpet?"
"Now I am. But if that happened to me, what's gonna happen to everyone else if they get sick? We don't have enough bracelets to help with that."
The prince didn't have an answer. But Nefir certainly did.
"I have enough bracelets for all of your friends, Aladdin. But I won't give them to you for free."
Abu's jaw clenched as he spoke. "Don't do it, Aladdin. There's gotta be a big catch to all this. Wouldn't doubt it's a trap."
"I wouldn't take the chance if I were you," Nefir interrupted before Aladdin could speak. "Your Genie doesn't have time to magically recreate these bracelets AND the cure to the spell. My men and I did our research - we knew what the spells from that tome could do, accidentally started or not. So we came prepared. If your Carpet has fallen ill, it won't be long before the rest of your friends do. Your Genie probably already knows this at the time we're speaking as well. Do you really want to risk it?"
It was a long moment before Aladdin spoke again, his eyes closed as if he had a headache that wouldn't go away. "Why do I get the feeling you want more than just the tome?"
Nefir nodded quickly. "For a moment, I was worried that being in that stuffy Palace dulled your street wisdom, but you catch on quick. But I'm not telling you anything until your...former monkey lets go of my men."
"Aladdin," Abu started, but the look Aladdin gave him made him realize it wasn't worth the argument. The prince had made up his mind.
"Let them go, Abu," Aladdin's voice wasn't stern or even harsh, just quiet. Resigned.
Abu made a huffing sound under his breath before his hands released the two imps. The unconscious ones were still sleeping on the rooftop. But the newly freed imps flew quickly to Nefir's side, relief clear on their faces.
Nefir clapped, but the gesture was almost mocking. "Bravo. You made the wise choice."
"When it comes to my friends, I don't take chances. But you already knew that." Aladdin's attention turned to Nefir then, his expression serious. "Now what exactly do you want?"
Jasmine was both upset and angry, but she knew after hearing everything Genie had to say that she had to hold the wave of frustration within her back to not alarm either Rajah or Iago outside of Jafar's lair, who probably would have more to say if they knew everything she'd just learned. "You need to tell them, Genie. Everything. They deserve to know."
Genie winced. "I want to, Jas, but that's not going to make the situation better. It means that I have two big tasks ahead of me and I don't really have the time to spare for it. I need to make both a potion and a set of protective bracelets just in case. It's going to take me at least another day. I wanted to tell you and Al as soon as I knew, but of course Al's not here. I don't really want to say anything while Carpet and Abu are out with him."
"But it doesn't make sense to keep this from them now that you know everything," she argued, her whisper harsh. "You had an excuse before because you weren't certain, but now that's clearly changed. Aladdin told you before that you should have let them know the possibility of the worst case scenario before now, but you didn't. What's even worse about it is that you had the theory before now and it was correct this whole time! The absolute worse case!"
Genie's shoulders slumped. "I know, kid. Believe me, I do. Stopping Nefir from trying to steal the tome was a little more important in the scheme of things. If he got his claws on it before now, I wouldn't have been able to compare things to know the truth. You guys focusing on that gave me the chance to figure things out, and I didn't want to distract from that. Plus the fact that none of them are showing side effects right now is a good thing still and I really didn't want to add to their anxiety. Believe me when I say it."
At the way Genie's voice broke, Jasmine's tone softened. "Do you want me to tell them, Genie? Because I can do that while you work on things so that you don't waste time."
"I'd...rather work on things and wait until Al and the others get back. Please, Jas - this is on me. I know I screwed up but I need time to make things right. And if I'm going to let them know what's going on, it needs to be everyone being on the same page."
Jasmine sighed. "Okay, but only until the others get back. I'm serious. And I'm hoping they didn't run into serious trouble with Nefir. I'll tell Rajah and Iago that you found the cure and are working on it, for now."
Genie smiled. "Thanks. And I'm sorry. For all of it."
Jasmine nodded. "I know. But that doesn't make things great for Abu, Iago, Rajah and Carpet, considering. We all need to make sure they're okay and stay that way."
As the princess left Jafar's lair, she anticipated seeing Rajah waiting outside patiently, leaning against one of the Palace hallway walls. Rajah was holding firmly on the collar of Iago's shirt, preventing the former bird from moving.
"Oh good, the Princess is back," Iago said, giving Rajah a side-eye glance. "Now can you kindly unhand me, you big palooka? I really do need to move around. My legs are getting restless standin' in one place for so long! You holdin' me ain't making it any better!"
"Only if the Princess wills it," Rajah said. "You were trying to listen in on a private conversation between her and Genie. I wasn't going to allow that."
"Well she's back now! Nothin' for me to overhear, thanks to you!"
Jasmine sighed. "Don't argue you two. Rajah, you can let go of him, though I didn't ask you to hold him back for any reason. Don't put that on me."
Rajah's expression turned to one of regret and embarrassment as he released the collar of Iago's shirt. "My apologies, Princess."
Iago used his hands to smooth the collar of his shirt and pull his red hair back over his ears. He grinned at Jasmine. "So what's the news? We got a cure?"
Jasmine nodded. At least she could give them the good news. "We do. Genie's working on it right now, but he's on a time crunch making it. He has more to say, but we're waiting for Aladdin and others to get back so everyone can hear what he has to say at the same time. Even then, he won't be able to say much else before he has to go back to working after that. But he wanted a chance to be honest with you guys about everything."
Iago gave a playful, yet hard punch to Rajah's arm. "See, what'd I tell ya?! Nothin' to worry about. Don't know why Blue Boy was makin' such a racket in the first place."
Rajah gave Iago a side-eye glare and growled low under his breath in warning. To Jasmine, it was one piece of the man that - despite how different he was as a human - lent back to his tiger roots. Iago was quick to back away, ducking behind Jasmine.
"Why does he have to be so scary even when he's human?" Iago said only loud enough for Jasmine to hear. "It's like nothin's changed."
To Iago's surprise, Jasmine smiled at him. "I don't see anything wrong with that, actually. And you're the one that punched him in the arm just now. How did you think he'd react any differently than if you'd slapped him with one of your wings as a bird?"
Iago rolled his eyes. "I was hopin' being human would have softened him up a little. But good point."
"Iago, Rajah! Heads up!" Down the hallway, Jasmine heard Abu's voice, but while the former monkey was getting the attention of his friends, it was Aladdin who tossed a couple of things over to Iago and Rajah. She couldn't hide the shock from her expression.
Bracelets.
"What are these?" Rajah asked, frowning at the bracelet in his hand. Iago had the exact opposite reaction, because he was admiring the design of the bracelet.
"Magic bracelets meant to protect against any side-effects we might get being under this human spell," Abu said quickly, pointing to a similarly designed bracelet on his own wrist. "Put it on now. We don't want to chance anything while Genie's working on a cure."
Abu had been eager to approach Jasmine, Iago, and Rajah, but Jasmine noticed that Aladdin and Carpet lingered behind the former monkey. She could sense that something was wrong.
She walked over to where Aladdin stood, while Carpet held his hand tightly. Carpet looked so tired that Jasmine's heart ached looking at the boy.
"Aladdin, what happened?" Jasmine asked. "Where did those bracelets come from?"
Aladdin's expression didn't change. He didn't really answer her first question, but he was quick to answer the second. "Those bracelets came from Nefir and his goons. Took them off him. At least for now, we know that things are going to be okay with these magic bracelets warding off any side-effects they might get." Aladdin looked down at Carpet with concern. "How are you feeling now, Carpet? Your stomach still hurt?"
Carpet shook his head, looking between Aladdin and Jasmine with concern of his own. Something definitely happened, Jasmine thought, realizing that Carpet might've been the one something happened to, but she wasn't sure what.
Aladdin turned his attention to Abu. "Can you take Carpet back to his room, Abu? I know he's tired after everything that happened this afternoon. I need to catch up with Jasmine and the others."
Abu frowned, but nodded. "Sure." The former monkey held out his hand to Carpet. "Come on, little guy. You probably need to get a good nap in after all that. Likewise with me."
Jasmine opened her mouth to protest, as the two of them turned to walk down the hall away from them. Aladdin held up a hand to stop her before she could speak, shaking his head firmly though his words were gentle. "Don't. Leave them alone." But even then, there was some other emotion Aladdin was holding back. Anxiety? Anger? Frustration? All three? She couldn't place it. Something was very wrong. She could tell even from the rigid way Aladdin held his shoulders.
As if he could pick up on the sudden tension in the hall as Carpet and Abu left, Rajah gave a stern look at Aladdin. "Jasmine said that Genie needed to have a meeting with all of us. Shouldn't you call them back?"
Aladdin shook his head. "No need. They already know what's going on. We learned everything from our encounter with Nefir earlier. He seemed glad to tell us the whole truth of things, every last detail. And I know already what Genie knows, but figured I'd stick around to confirm it with him."
Jasmine's mouth dropped open, her heart feeling like it sank to the pit of her stomach. "Everything?"
Aladdin nodded slowly. "Everything." The edge in Aladdin's voice was enough to even put Rajah and Iago on alert. Jasmine could tell that Aladdin wasn't going to say anything at all; she could feel the sting of his silence, of everything he wasn't saying. It hurt hearing it, knowing what she also knew - the full truth.
Iago looked between Jasmine, Aladdin, and Rajah, before he sighed heavily. "Okay...this is awkward. Think I need to prepare for a very different conversation than the one I was expectin'. Let's just rip the bandage off, why don't we?"
Rajah nodded. "Agreed. Let's see what Genie has to say."