Chapter 08: Hidden Terms
"Looks like you've brought me the artifact in the designated time. Good," Mozenrath said as Komal handed him the artifact. "So I will deliver on the bargain promised. The apparatus to perform the extraction is in the other room. It's not the most comfortable of platforms, but it shouldn't take long." Mozenrath motioned Komal - still the dominant spirit in Aladdin's body - to follow him further into the castle.
Xerxes eyed Komal suspiciously, as if the creature expected Komal to suddenly shift back to the consciousness of the body's owner. That wouldn't be happening anytime soon. Aladdin put up a fair bit of resistance, but his essence was still too weak to fight off Komal's spirit. Komal knew his commandment of magic and the will to restore himself and his sister to their bodies took priority.
Komal knew that there was a chance if they delayed, it would be bad for all of them. Three spirits in one body at a time was dangerous. There was a chance that if left for too long, the weakest spirit would be erased entirely from existence. That was something Lati had warned him about. Erasing Aladdin from his own body was not something Komal wished for, even with an indifferent attitude towards the prince. It would also complicate matters for both Komal and Lati.
If Aladdin's essence were erased, only one spirit would be able to be extracted from Aladdin's body after that. He would be the assumed spirit to stay in Aladdin's body forever -as it would need an essence to cling to, while Lati would be the only one extracted.
Neither he nor Lati wanted that. For her part, Lati had been silent up to this point, occupied in her task of healing the worst of the wounds on Aladdin's body. The prince's chest wound was unmasked now, only defined by a deep red slash that would go away with time, but looked awful. As if someone had taken a dagger and slashed at the prince's heart in a vicious attack. The prince's head wound remained worse for wear, considering the fall Aladdin had taken before the merchant Siva found him. That had been Komal's fault, though he hated to admit it. Aladdin's body wasn't used to handling so much magic power at once.
Komal and Lati were fortunate in the present moment that Aladdin's body hadn't given out with the magic Komal had used to get them to the Land of the Black Sand. It took all of Komal's efforts to keep his own presence steady while they walked through Mozenrath's massive home.
"Here we are." Mozenrath allowed Komal to walk ahead of him into the room. "I'll need you to step onto the platform. Xerxes will make sure the restraints are tight before we begin."
Komal knew that the conversion table would be uncomfortable from Mozenrath's description, but it looked unsettling to see.
"I don't like this, Komal," Lati said, breaking the silence that had been between them. Neither Mozenrath nor Xerxes could hear their internal conversations, but Komal had to make sure he didn't speak out of turn.
"It's for the best," Komal said, feeling his calm build into a slow burning frustration. "Do you not want your body back? Do you want Aladdin to be erased?"
"You know I want to be free from this curse, just the same as you. AND I want Aladdin to be fine."
"Then you have to know that this is the only option we have," Komal continued. "Mozenrath should know what he's doing. We gave him what he wants, now he owes us the favor in return. I'll go first since you're still helping Aladdin as much as you can. But once I'm back in my body, then you'll have to be prepared for the extraction as well."
"I still don't trust Mozenrath. You said the only thing that we had to give him was the artifact from the Agrabah Palace. But I sense that Aladdin, Jasmine, and their friends have a history with Mozenrath. And it's not a good one. They don't trust him; why should we?"
Komal ignored her. They were wasting time with petty squabbles. If Aladdin and his friends had a history with Mozenrath, then it wasn't their problem. They were not to be mediators in rifts between others' kingdoms. Besides, a deal was a deal.
Komal stepped onto the upright platform, allowing Xerxes to flip the switch on the restraints around Aladdin's ankles and wrists.
"The extraction will probably be uncomfortable, but you shouldn't feel anything after a quick zap. Your body will appear under the dome to the right of the machine." Mozenrath pointed with his gloved hand to the far right of the room. "It helps that you've had the chance to use Aladdin's body long enough to readjust."
"Do what you must as quickly as possible," Komal said.
Mozenrath smiled. "Very well. Xerxes, start the machine."
Xerxes was none too happy to start the process, but flipped the switch with his tail anyway. There was a loud whirring sound that filled the room, a few beams of magic light that flickered above Aladdin's head. The table he was strapped to went from standing upright to laying flat. A giant magic scope, of which the tip looked like the sharp point of a needle, positioned itself over Aladdin's heart. Komal could see the scope readying to begin the extraction process. It made him slightly nervous, of which he was aware Lati could sense. He could sense her nervousness too.
But neither one of them expected the voice that emerged in their consciousness then. It was sudden, strong, and jarring. Just before the tip of the scope began to glow, Aladdin's voice filled their consciousness, raw with anger, confusion, even fear. It wasn't clear to either of them how much or how aware he was of anything going on, but the message he sent them left no question to his view of the situation.
What are you doing?! Stop this! You can't trust Mozenrath for anything. He's using you - can't you see that?! STOP!
Too late. The beam of the scope shot quickly out, beginning the extraction of Komal's essence as it started to pull Komal forcefully from Aladdin's body. Pain filled Komal's consciousness, and then - nothing.
Mozenrath waited patiently as the extraction procedure finished, grinning to himself since it had worked just as intended. Some part of him felt thrilled at the brief agonized scream Aladdin had given as Komal's essence was taken out of the Prince's body. At present, Komal was just getting his bearings in the chamber, stepping out and looking at his physical body for the first time in - when? A decade? Maybe two? The bearded mystic was in awe. Mozenrath didn't feel threatened by Komal's magic or presence. It seemed that the man still trusted him.
"This is..." Komal's voice didn't hide either its surprise or joy. "I'm finally back. Finally back in my own body."
"Seems everything worked perfectly. The curse has been removed and you're free. I trust that you can find your way to your own kingdom from this point." Mozenrath's words were deliberate, even as the confusion and surprise showed on Komal's face.
"Wait, I'm not leaving without my sister." Komal looked over to where Aladdin still lay in restraints on the table. He was still out of it, eyes glossed and unfocused, his breaths labored. It was hard to tell which consciousness prevailed in Aladdin's body. Komal no longer has the ability to speak to his sister, Mozenrath guessed. Likely why he might be ill at ease.
Mozenrath was prepared when Komal turned his white hot anger towards the sorcerer. "Wait a minute, you said we had a deal! A promise! We got you the artifact; we got you what you wanted."
"You see, that's the thing," Mozenrath said carefully, one corner of his lip turned up as he spoke. "You promised me that you would get me what I wanted as part of the deal. The artifact was just one thing I wanted, which secured your freedom from the curse. I never said anything about freeing both of you for the artifact. But of course, if you wanted to clarify, you should have asked before you agreed to the deal."
"What did you say?" By this time, Komal's attention was fully on the Black Sand sorcerer, who only responded with a raise of his hand.
"Relax. I'm messing with you. Of course I plan to extract your sister. Because once that process is done, I'll have the second thing I want, which will keep your end of the bargain intact."
"Maybe you should tell him what that is, Mozenrath." Aladdin's voice had so much distain that neither Komal, Xerxes, nor Mozenrath could deny that the dominant spirit in Aladdin's body at present was none other than the Prince itself. "Because lying by omission is still lying. I should know."
"Lati..." Komal started. Aladdin turned to him, anger slightly faded, his voice still firm.
"She's fine, Komal. Lati's still inside me." Aladdin took a few shaky breaths. "I don't know everything, but I know enough that you guys stole the artifact from the Palace using my body to do it. And that you've been...inside me a while. I understand why you did because you wanted your freedom, but Mozenrath isn't to be trusted. He always wants something for a cost. And usually the price is terrible."
"It's not terrible for them," Mozenrath said, his grin widening. "But it certainly might be for you, Prince of Agrabah. Pity that your friends, family, not even your Genie are here to save you this time."
"What is it that you want, Mozenrath?" Komal asked. "Just say it."
Xerxes cackled. "Aladdin's death."
Komal couldn't hide his surprise. Aladdin's anger quietly raged in a glare. Mozenrath simply laughed. At least Aladdin was smart enough to know what was going on. Then again, Mozenrath knew Aladdin well enough that the prince wasn't as gullible as the first time they met. They'd had this same dance more than a few times.
"What Xerxes said, at least concisely," Mozenrath said with a casual shrug. "You see, a cursed extraction of two magic wielding spirits is not good on any single body, let alone a mere human like Aladdin. Even with - shall we say - Aladdin's luck, strength of spirit or the notable progress of his healed wounds - it won't save him from a second extraction. Lati will come out unscathed. The curse will be removed from her as well. But that will leave the corruption of the cursed magic wracking Aladdin's already battered body. Aladdin will die an agonizing death as the magic rips him apart from the inside." Mozenrath's laugh deepened, echoing through the room. "Even I couldn't have come up with a better demise for my rival. He's been a thorn in my side for years. And now you give me the perfect scenario to end him. So yes, it is exactly what I want. Unless you'd like to change your mind."
"Change mind, too late," Xerxes said.
Komal wasn't sure what to say. The sorcerer could see the man grapple with the decision.
"Oh, is it really that hard? To choose your sister over a stranger?"
"You twisted snake!" Aladdin snapped as he tried to wrestle out of his restraints. "You knew exactly what you were doing when you made that deal. You tricked them to do all of this and steal the artifact for yourself."
Mozenrath scoffed. "But I wasn't the one who deliberately hid myself in your body. At least when I was trapped in your body, I made myself known. And when I replaced the bodies of your friends with Black Sand clones, I made it clear to you what my plan was."
"Yeah, just before you tried to banish me and everyone else in Agrabah back then," Aladdin said. "I remember. One of many times you've tried to capture me and involve me in your schemes before and after I married Jasmine. You haven't changed a bit, Mozenrath. Predictable as always, particularly when you have a long history of manipulating things."
"Funny you have that anger towards me, Aladdin, when these two spirits decided to steal your body and use them as a means to an end for themselves. I didn't make them do that. They came to me on their own," Mozenrath said casually. "And they have the only solution that I can offer them to restore themselves."
"That's..." Aladdin flinched. It was hard to argue that. Clearly Aladdin hadn't known for the vast majority of time that he'd been inhabited by two cursed spirits in body and mind for some time. But Aladdin's sudden attention shift hadn't been just from hesitation. At first his eyes went wide - Lati was probably speaking to him if Mozenrath had to take a guess.
Aladdin's reaction after that made Mozenrath realize that his carefully twisted plan was in danger of being overturned. Very quickly.
Lati had heard enough of this terrible conversation. She wasn't going to make her brother choose between Aladdin's life and her restoration of spirit. She also wasn't going to condemn Aladdin to a demise when she'd been trying to save him from the beginning.
The only thing to do was to get them both out of there as quickly as she could. And the only way to do that was to create a distraction. Creating a distraction like breaking the machine. The only way to break the machine - with magic no less - was to shift places with Aladdin.
"I'm sorry, Aladdin, but I don't see any other way out of this."
Lati could feel the slight panic in Aladdin's essence. "What are you going to do?"
"I have to stop Mozenrath from hurting you or my brother. This is the only way I can do it, and it's the only time I think I need to do this. I'm so sorry."
"Lati, wait..." Aladdin began, but he gasped, then screamed. The magic that moved inside his body as the two of them shifted places had more of an impact than even Lati predicted. She felt Aladdin shift out of focus, and she poured every bit of magic energy she had in a spell that not only freed Aladdin of his restraints, but also caused the scope to malfunction and break apart.
"No! What are you doing?!" Mozenrath started. Lati barely dodged what would have been a paralyzing snare of Black Sand magic. But Aladdin's body moved quickly, much more than she'd expected for his injuries.
"Lati, stop!" Komal called out to her. He realized Lati had shifted to the dominant spirit in Aladdin's body with the use of magic. "Mozenrath, if you just allow me to talk to her, I could convince..."
Mozenrath did not let him finish. "Actually, I don't trust the fact that you won't get your sister to meet our agreement. It's time to put this artifact to good use."
Lati - in control of Aladdin's body - had been in the hall ready to run further, but Mozenrath's words made her pause. She turned back long enough to see a brilliant flash of light from the room she'd run from. And then...silence. Too long of a silence.
Then she heard Xerxes laugh. "Puppet! Puppetmaster!"
Mozenrath's voice sounded amused as Lati found a distant corner of the hall to listen from, not too far from the door they'd escaped. "Okay Komal, let's try this again. You owe me a debt. Bring Aladdin back to me in one piece and we'll perform the extraction. You'll get your sister back, and you two can go about your lives unbothered by me. But I want the opportunity to erase Aladdin, once and for all."
Lati could feel Aladdin's spirit alongside hers. Both of them held the same sense of dread as they heard Komal's monotone, obedient voice. "Yes, Mozenrath."