Chapter Three- The First Changes
Aladdin felt something tickling his arm the next morning. It felt like feathers and he cracked open an eye to see white feathers, the tips tickling his flesh. He sat up and the feathers moved away. He rolled his shoulders as something seemed to be sticking to his back and he felt a weight back there. He looked over a shoulder and his eyes widened.
He…had…wings! A pair of white wings protruded from his back and had ripped through the back of his vest. How did this happen? It has to be some kind of magic and, if that's the case, there's only one thing to do. I must go to the Tree of Renewal. Of course, I'll need my friends' help.
Genie slowly rose from his lamp with a tray of food but when he saw Aladdin, the tray fell with a clang that woke Abu and Carpet. "A-Al?" he gasped.
"Yeah, it's me. I don't know how this happened, but obviously we know how to undo it."
"The Tree," came Jasmine's voice before she appeared in her robe and hood. She stared at the wings for a moment before Aladdin asked, "Do you want to come?"
"I should. Look." She turned around and lifted the robe to reveal a lion's tail sticking out of her pants. Aladdin gaped at it until Jasmine dropped the robe. "How? What did this?" he wondered.
"It could have been the bread," Jasmine said. "We both ate it and now you have wings and I have a tail."
Aladdin thought it over for a moment before saying, "Jasmine, we might be changing into griffins. We both ate the bread and griffins do have wings and a lion's tail."
"Either way, let's get going before you two get worse," Genie cut in. He put the couple and Abu on Carpet before he flew beside Carpet and out into the sky. Aladdin folded his wings against his back to prevent them from catching the air and pitching him off Carpet. He frowned at this little annoyance before thinking, The sooner we get to the tree, the better.
Mozenrath woke early the next morning and used his magic to spy on Jasmine via her mirror. He saw her asleep with a tail hanging over the side. He smirked as he shifted the spell t view Aladdin and his eyes glittered in satisfaction at the wings. It has begun. Within a day or two, they will fully become griffins and when I appear before them, they will follow my orders. I expect that they will resist as they will still be human in mind and able to talk. But the magic in the bread will compel them to obey eventually. Mozenrath continued to watch as Aladdin awoke and discovered his wings, he spoke of curing himself, and Jasmine showing up mentioning the Tree of Renewal and showing her tail. Once the gang had left, Mozenrath ended the spell and laughed.
The tree will not cure them. They will become griffins, there is no way to stop it. Hmm…I have the perfect way to test their loyalty. Griffins are capable of tearing a man in two. I can order one of them to kill Amin while having the other tear apart a training dummy. It will take a little time to get them to truly accept their situation, but it will be worth it.
Aladdin climbed off Carpet as they prepared to cross the swamp as they had done the first time. He stretched his wings and got a shock when he saw that they had grown wider and bigger during the trip and his fingernails had formed into claws. He turned to Jasmine to see that her eyes were blue and eagle-like.
She saw him staring and asked, "What is it?"
"You have eagle eyes and they're blue," he said.
Jasmine averted her eyes and said nothing. This wasn't the first time she had been transformed. She had been a rat, various forms due to Genie's cold, and a snake woman. In her opinion, the snake had been the worst; she had had nightmares about it for weeks. I can admit, becoming a griffin is better than my other changes, but the question is the bread. Did the merchant knowingly sell Aladdin the bread, meaning for us to be griffins? Or was it a mistake, realizing it after we ate it? I would sure like some answers once we're cured.
Aladdin, as they walked, wasn't handling the situation as well as Jasmine. It made sense as when one considers that Aladdin didn't undergo transformations that often. It was usually Iago, Abu, and Jasmine that were targeted. My defeat or destruction is what my enemies are after and change my friends to keep them out of their way.
Aladdin's thoughts turned to the merchant and hindsight kicked in. He hadn't given any thought to his lower face being covered or that he was robed. Was it possible that the merchant had been an enemy in disguise? If so, who? He dismissed some of his foes as they were short and not magically inclined. That left him with two possibilities: Mirage and Mozenrath.
Mirage is capable of changing her shape, but she usually disguises herself as a woman. Her schemes normally involve destroying me or something I hold dear, like my love for Jasmine. Magical bread would be something she would do, but why target both of us and why change us into another form when the tree can change us back?
What about Mozenrath, though? He wants to rule the Seven Deserts and uses magical creatures to do it or uses them to help him gain more magic. I remember Amin saying Mozenrath cornered the market on griffins before hiring him and that he had a thing for griffins. I think Mozenrath, after collecting claws and feathers from the griffins, destroyed them so we couldn't return Sultan to normal. Also…he's the same height as the merchant! Aladdin's heart pounded at these realizations. It seemed quite likely that Mozenrath intentionally sold him that bread in order to turn him and Jasmine into griffins. But for what purpose? Possibly to use us to conquer the Seven Deserts. It also could be a revenge thing and Jasmine is just a bonus for him. Well, he clearly didn't think we knew about the tree, so this is another failed plan. Jasmine and I will not help him rule over everything.
Aladdin unconsciously used his wings to sail over large patches of the swamp and, when he did realize it, he smiled a little. I can fly, he thought, thrill welling up inside him. My wings are big enough to support me and since I'll be losing them before I know it, I should use them. It would be nice if Jasmine and I could fly together once she gets her wings.
Jasmine, her robe and hood discarded, kept her tail curled around a leg to keep it out of the way as they made their way across the swamp. She was relieved that there were no robbers this time as she had enough to deal with. She didn't like having eagle eyes before getting anything else, besides the tail. Eagles have an intense look to their eyes and now so did she even if she wasn't intending to look intimidating. A quick movement was caught out of the corner of her eye and she looked over at it.
Aladdin was soaring over the ground with a small happy smile. She felt jealousy go through her. She wanted to fly! It didn't seem fair that she had to walk while he got to fly. She then blinked and vigorously shook her head. What am I thinking? I shouldn't be jealous! We're being changed into griffins and we're on our way to undoing it. Let Aladdin enjoy his wings and who knows? I might get wings along the way. Her eyes darted around and she almost gasped. She was seeing things that were at a great distance or seeing tiny bugs flying over the water's surface. The detail she was able to see on the bugs or any creature far away was incredible. I had learned that eagles have sharp eyesight that helps them find prey when they are flying. Well, as griffins are half-eagle, they also have that same eyesight and since I have eagle eyes, that sharp eyesight is mine too.
