Reality Strikes

She was beginning to feel a bit guilty. Mozenrath was not someone to play around with and the fact that he seemed a little more aloof than before made her worry that this little indulgence was going to far; and the possibility all her work was wearing off teetered at the edge of her thoughts. She smiled, feeling silly all of a sudden, but how could she resist? And hell, Mozenrath seemed to enjoy her attention, as far as she could tell anyway. She figured it was because even as conceded as he is the only one normally around to reinforce his ego was Xerxes and of course himself. One's own opinion can be empty and the praise of any loyal familiar, who wants to stay alive, will always be flattering. Yes, Makkura decided that her praise must be welcome, even if he would never really admit it or care...

Makkura's thoughts were stopped as the three large books in her arms and the two bottles perched on top nearly crashed to the floor. "Maybe two trips would have been a better idea." She mumbled under her breath and concentrated on her balancing act. She was nearly there anyway might as well keep going. With the books and bottles tamed in her arms she began to close the distance between her and the library.

She paused in her stride to the voices that came from her destination. One was definitely that of Mozenrath and although he sounded angered it was restrained, slightly, well he wasn't ranting yet. The other took a little longer to identify. It was not Xerxes it was too soft and ...purring. Makkura shifted her jaw 'What did Mirage want out of Mozenrath this time?’

She poked her head in just enough to see. Mirage stood in front of Mozenrath grinning down at him, while Mozenrath sat askew in his chair with one leg thrown over the armrest knowing that the overly casual position irritated his mother.

Mozenrath was waiting, perhaps the pest would go away and not ask him again.

"Well?" Mirage became impatient.

"Why do you even want that thing anyway? Why can't you just get it yourself? Must you pester me with things I don't and never will care about?" Mozenrath scowled as he asked the questions, he knew he had little chance of being answered.

Mirage replied with a play of dramatics "Oh, how you hurt me, my dear son! Not even willing to help your mother." She placed the back of her hand to her head, grinning. "What did I ever do wrong?"

"Everything." Mozenrath said dryly with no other response to her theatrics.

Makkura slipped into the room and relived herself of the books keeping an eye on the volatile pair and having an urge to pounce Mirage; she just barely kept herself from smiling at the thought of making Mozenrath smile genuinely for once. Mozenrath glanced in her direction as did Mirage but they turned back to each other quickly, but not before Mirage gave her a snide look.

Mozenrath lifted an eyebrow "You are not going to try that pathetic obelisk thing again are you?"

Mirage flinched in offense "No...I have other plans for the mirror. And I wish you to get it for me ... besides..."

"besides...?"

A devious smile spread over Mirage's entire being "Oh come now you owe me...now don't you."

"For What!? I owe you nothing."

Mirage acted shocked "Why for being your doting mother!" she pretended to cry.

"Well when you put it that way, I guess I do owe you something, but I doubt it's what you want."

Mirage straightened "Just get it." She growled

"Even for you I'm having a hard time believing you actually thought I would just go and fulfill your every whim!"

"Insolent little...." Mirage trailed off her anger turning to mocking calm Mozenrath was far too familiar with, she had something on her side. "Now, now sweet child" she purred "Getting this mirror for me will definitely keep me occupied, now I see why you will not. don't worry I wont leave." She smiled, enjoying the feel of pushing every one of her son's buttons.

This time Mozenrath flinched and scowled. "F i n e." seeing no other way to get Mirage out of his sight in any reasonable amount of time.

Makkura watched dumbly not too sure what they were talking about, only that Mirage wanted Mozenrath to get some mirror for her and that she had a very bad feeling about Mirage's intentions. The Cat kept glancing at her like someone trying not to look at a person whom had roomers floating about their head.

Mozenrath grudgingly pulled himself from the chair causing Mirage to brighten like the proud mother she wasn't. "Such a good child." Was all she said mocking him enough to make him turn but leaving in the customary blaze of green before he could rant the bevy of curses her presents always brought to mind.

Makkura opened her mouth to speak, wondering why Mozenrath was even giving in to Mirage's desires, but thought better and closed it with a little clack of her teeth. "Come, I want
to get this over with." Mozenrath snarled.

She took a spot next to him and Xerxes, who knew to stay in a safe place whenever the cat visited, slipped under his hood. Blue-black flames emerged from nowhere and melted back into nowhere to reveal the palace of Agrabah. They started off toward the most likely place that this mirror would be.

Makkura couldn't decide if the fact that Mozenrath had a good idea of where he was going was a good thing or a bad thing.

Mozenrath stopped too quickly and Makkura nearly ran into his back; Xerxes however did and was neatly batted away. He shook off the daze that accompanied being 'dismissed’ in such a way and snarled as he found himself being held by the new sorceress. Her near white, pale blue eyes staring down at him. He hissed and swam away quickly, she gave him a odd feeling that he never was able to place.

Two guards stood on either side of the massive doors to the treasury. With a glow of his gauntlet they were paralyzed where they stood, only to be released long after Mozenrath's business was done, possibly. They couldn't so much as follow the sorcerer with their eyes as Mozenrath grumbled past them. Makkura smiled sweetly and twiddled her fingers at the captive forms.

The treasury was huge, as most royal treasuries are, filled with what most people dreamed, worked, died, and killed for. Though none of it held any real value for either Mozenrath or Makkura.

Mozenrath stopped in the dead center of the room, Makkura nearly ran into him again, gold was nice to look at after all. He placed his hands on his hips and all but snarled at the masses of gold, jewels, and other various wealth that promised to make a random search long and tedious.

"Xerxes!" the eel swam next to his master. "Find that mirror, now!" Xerxes bobbed once in the air and went to do as told not wanting to be the focus of his master's annoyance. He swam over the dunes of treasure, sniffing with all of his ability until a very faint trace of magic wafted up through the coins.

"Something there!" he creeched and looped above a smaller pile of coins that had been heaped over a chest. Mozenrath pulled it out and tore the lid open and was met with his 'reflection’.

He quickly tucked the mirror under his arm. "Let’s go." His lightened mood relived both Xerxes and Makkura who were glad such a bothersome task was done with so easily.

They thought too quickly. "But if you did that I wouldn't be a very good host."

Mozenrath's mood plummeted further down than before "Oh, please don't bother yourself, Aladdin, I really must be going. My life doesn't revolve around you and I have things to attend to."

Aladdin stood firmly in the doorway taking the classic hero pose. "Not one for originality is he." Makkura whispered and was able to get Mozenrath to smirk.

"Aw c'mon Mozey it's been so boring today." Aladdin said.

"Oh I see, nothing around to slay? Nothing to save Jasmine from?" Mozenrath shot back and tried to ignore the shortening of his name. "You poor dear, and me pressed for time. I really do need to be going." With that Mozenrath made a move to leave.

"Yoink!!" The mirror had been snatched by Genie in one swift move that left Mozenrath fuming and Makkura, along with Xerxes all too ready to give him the room that he may need.

Mozenrath stood far too still, the calm before the storm that made everyone in the room edgy. His gauntleted hand raised and ready, lit Mozenrath's face with dramatic blue-black light. "As much as I truly would love to stay I'm just going to have to be informal and simply incinerate you now. I'm not in a good mood today." He smiled and nearly hurled the deadly flames at his intended target but suddenly stopped, the flames fading somewhat, and gazed at the mirror. His smile was replaced by an odd look of mild confusion, then quickly shifted again to his usual arrogance. "I should have guessed." He said calmly placing his hands on his hips. "didn't think my memory was that bad." He mumbled.

Makkura, as well as everyone else present, wondered exactly what he was referring to. Actually Makkura had something of an idea but wasn't about to say so, not directly anyway.

"Umm.." she began timidly. "Mozenrath..."

"Yes Makkura 'dear’" That frightened her.

Aladdin and Genie stood mutely behind.

Makkura pursed her lips. " What exactly does that mirror do?"

"Why it shows the truth beneath appearances."

Makkura sweatdropped. "OH, R..Really?"

"Yes."

"Oh I see.......EEP! "With that she was engulfed by a onslaught of blue-black flames.

Aladdin and Genie stood shocked as the flames died away and for a moment it seemed he had done absolutely nothing. Makkura stood much as she had been in the first place, aside from a feeble attempt to protect herself with her arms. But a few slight changes had indeed occurred. Her hair was now a light purplish color, nearly white instead of its former black. Her unsettlingly light blue eyes were now solid, a soft
auburn in color. But the most significant thing was the two golden brown cat like ears that twitched atop her head in nervousness.

"Hi~" she smiled and twiddled her fingers at everyone in the room. Then promptly dodged the next in a string of blasts.

"I don't take kindly to being tricked." He growled in between his attacks that were doing their intended job even if it was only on the walls.

"Perhaps.." she started and stopped short as another blast filled the air she would have been in. "..if I could just explain?" She slid behind a pile of treasure that lasted about two blasts before melting too much to be of any use. "You see I–"

"I don't want to hear your explanations!"

"But"

"And keep me OUT of your twisted Kitsune fantasies!"

Makkura stopped dead in her tracks, crossed her arms and stomped her foot for emphases "IM NOT KITSUNE!!!" she yelled at him as if he had insulted her beyond reason.

"Then you must be a cat." Mozenrath brightened at the thought of destroying her if she was.

"I'm not a cat." She said like a pouting child saying that they were not pouting.

Mozenrath crossed his arms "Then I suppose those ears are glued on?"

"I'm a demon. There’s a HUGE difference." She explained spreading her arms wide.

"All the more reason to kill you as soon as possible." He raised his gauntlet again but not to throw another fire ball. His lips moved slightly in incantation "RAH..."

Makkura went pale. The Rah Tilt. A brutal spell specially used in annihilating demons in a very brutal fashion and yet had no effect on any other living thing. She wanted to smack herself on the head for being so stupid and telling him what she was.

"TILT."

The wind was knocked out of her but not by the spell. She dared to open her eyes to find herself face to face with Aladdin, flying high on carpet, safe, and with a very lovely star studded backdrop. All very romantic. She put her finger on Aladdin’s forehead and pushed him away "Wrong man." Was all she said.

Looking down the treasure room was in far worse condition, the entire dome roof had caved in and the walls looked about to go as well. "Kakkoi~" under her breath Makkura showed her delight for the destruction below, while Aladdin looked on in horror and worried if anyone had been hurt.

Genie flew up to them looking rather dusty and coughed out a few pieces of plaster, then a treasure chest full of gold coins. "The mighty morbid power monger split." He announced.

"Was anyone hurt?" Aladdin asked

"Nope, but he did break the mirror, and I think a piece of the ceiling got him on the head." Genie further illustrated with a tiny Mozenrath in the palm of his hand being hit on the top of his head with a small chunk of the roof (accompanied with straight red 'pain’ lines) and then waving little chubby arms in pain and vanishing. Aladdin giggled and Makkura let herself swoon a moment over the adorable little figure.

Aladdin turned to her and she snapped back to reality. "I don't understand, why are you with Mozenrath? Why did you trick him?

Makkura sighed and her ears drooped. "He really doesn't remember me." She said not answering Aladdin directly.

"You really did know him from before?" Genie asked, both he and Aladdin interested in finding out a little the sorcerer's past.

"Well..." she started "For about two or three minutes and we were both kids; but that’s beside the point."

"So what did you want with Mozenrath?" Aladdin asked

"Yeah talk or I'll haveta ruff ya up." Genie started in a trench coat and hat and shining a light in the demons face.

Makkura growled at the bright light, showing sharp white teeth that topped off the demon ensemble. "Nonono. Telling you just wouldn't be right." She smiled, then stood up on carpet and stepped over the edge, floating a moment before fading away.

"Aww man." Genie said disappointed that he couldn't finish his acting job.

Makkura knew it was really risky to go back to the citadel but she couldn't get back without the little silver ball that had gotten her here in the first place. She knew Mozenrath had picked it up at some point, she had seen it somewhere, but exactly where escaped her at the moment.

She surveyed the library, then went in to look closer at likely places. Nothing. She was almost frantic now but still able to keep quiet and very happy Mozenrath had yet to detect her. Everywhere, she thought, she had looked everywhere; she had even tried giving up and sitting down, hoping it would appear in her line of sight like in several stories she had read. Well that only seemed to work when you weren't trying to find something that way.

She really did give up now, despairing that she would have to find another way home or call on Rushe. She closed her eyes. The last thought didn't sound too good, Rushe would never let her hear the end of it and rub it in with that quiet I-know-what-is-going-to-happen-next attitude she always had. Makkura reopened her eyes and sighed
with despair.

There it was. Directly across from her on the bottom shelf of a bookcase, where she could swear she had looked. The little silver shine never looked so beautiful.

"Makkura!!" Mozenrath stood in the entrance to his library glaring at her and absolutely furious. Surely he wouldn't Rah Tilt her here. He would destroy his whole library, not to mention a nice chunk of the citadel.

"I'll be going." She said hurriedly and winked away before he could do anything.

Mozenrath was glad she was gone, even happier that she was so afraid of him.

For the second time, or rather the third time that day his mood dropped as Mirage’s glowing green eyes appeared in front of him. He snarled at her "Go away I don't need this now. The mirror is gone."

Her condescending laugh reached him before her whole body appeared. "That’s ok my dear, I didn't really want it. I thought you might appreciate seeing the little wench for what she was." She circled him and placed her clawed hands on his shoulders, then licked him a kiss with her rough cat tongue on his cheek.

He pulled away violently and wiped at the kissed spot with the back of his hand as if she had bit and poisoned him. "You couldn't have just told me?" he asked even though if she had it wouldn't have been any better.

She laughed at him again. "You should thank me." Then disappeared in the same fashion that she had come.

Mozenrath was left seething with anger. It was rare that his mother didn't leave him feeling mortified. He stood a moment and tried to calm down. Then licked the back of his hand and unconsciously groomed the kissed spot in a feline manner. Realized what he was doing and had to made a conscious effort to stop. He stomped out and headed toward the throne room to sulk, batting Xerxes out of the way and into the wall.

Makkura faded in at roughly the same place she had first arrived. She gave one last look to The Land of the Black Sand which lay very far off in the distance and sighed.

Making the little ball work took so much energy she didn't like doing it the first time and doubted it would be any better the second. She took a deep breath and concentrated with all her might. The little ball began to glow and floated up, out of her hands. It hung in the air a moment then vanished without fanfare.

She caught her breath and prepared for the hard part. Focusing again it took a moment for the portal to ripple into existence. As soon as the rippling stopped like a reflection becoming clear in water allowed to become still again, a neat round black circle was all to eager to take her home and she gladly stumbled through.

She hadn't known that coming back was easier than going. That would explain why she didn't fall unconscious this time, but she was still very weak and flopped down on the purple velvet chaise.

"You never told me you used to know Mozenrath." Makkura cringed at Rushe’s calm voice.

Makkura sat up and glowered at the other little demon, annoyed that she had apparently been eavesdropping again. Rushe was outright creepy. Dusty pink skin and thin, white eyes that were set too far apart, above a little nose but no mouth. Her black hair was spiky on one side and sort of in sheets on the other. Bluish-gray rags just barely hung over the essential places in vague sense of shame on her petite frame. She walked over on gargoyle like feet and had her twisted wood wand, adorned with knotted scraps of red fabric, clutched firmly in her clawed hands behind her back. As well as a wire thin tail that curled at the end forming a spiral.

"I didn't know you didn't know." She replied and tried to play up her tiredness in hopes Rushe would leave to let her rest. No such luck.

"How do you know him? You said it was from when you were kids?"

"Yeah." She replied accepting that Rushe would stay till she got her answer. "You know I was one of the last people born in The Land of the Black Sand, before Destain killed everyone off with his experiments."

Rushe nodded and sat cross-legged on the floor like some child, ignoring the various chairs that inhabited the room, and placed her wand across her lap, curling her tail around to the front.

"Well" Makkura continued looking up and thinking back. "Everyone that was left was desperate for food as well as other things, black sand doesn't exactly make for good farmland, and my father traded me off to some guy to get some. The guy was apparently interested in little girls, that wasn't uncommon at the time but still not something I wanted, obviously. He got me in this alley and was about to.." she faltered a moment then twirled her hand "..you know... but then he stopped short and looked toward the opening of the alley. I saw Destain ride by and Mozenrath was walking behind him, trying to keep up with the horse. Destain didn't care what was about to happen but Mozenrath stopped when he saw. I guess it made him angry because the next thing I knew Mozenrath had
reduced the guy to a red smug in the sand. Pretty impressive for a seven or eight year old boy. I was flattered to say the least." She smiled brightly at the other demon.

"Ah. I see. So you have a thing for him now." Rushe said.

Makkura rolled her eyes. "Of course! why do you think I have this." She held out a little doll that had been sitting among her pillows by one arm, a gauntleted arm to be exact. It was well fashioned after Mozenrath down to the curls of hair peeking out of the hood of his turban.

Rushe stared at it a moment, her thin eyes actually growing a little wider and suddenly threw her head back dissolving into laughter. "You are insane."

Makkura pouted and put Moze-chan in her lap. "Coming from you I don't think I have to worry about it." She hoped Rushe would leave once she was finished but again luck failed.

The smaller demon finally sat up and wiped tears from her eyes. One last giggle escaped and she regained her eerie composure. "So if you were born in the Land of the Black Sand how did you get here? And you couldn't have been a demon then, were you?

Makkura sighed and put her hand over her eyes. "I thought anyone who cared knew this stuff."

"I didn't care before."

"Ahh... ok then. About a year or so later I was digging up some food, literally, and I guess I was too close to the citadel cus Destain basically chose me to do his next experiment on. Umm that’s where it gets kinda fuzzy, I had no idea what he was going to do. He knocked me out and then I awoke here in Cimmeria, even though I wasn't dead Ereshkigal took me in, I became a demon, and the rest is history." She smiled hoping Rushe was satisfied.

Rushe stood again like a small child. "Speaking of which, our Lady will not be happy that you screwed up so badly." Twisting on her clawed foot she left Makkura to ponder that last bit of information.

Makkura sat wide-eyed till Rushe was fully out of the room, then clutching Moze-chan flopped into her pillows with a little squeak of despair.

To be continued...

Just a few things I want to mention. First, Mozenrath (sigh) and all Aladdin characters are property of Disney. Second, I know I resorted to using a little anime learned Japanese so kitsune is 'fox spirit’, kakkoi means cool, and 'Rah Tilt’ was shamelessly used from Slayers (one of the best animes, go watch it!!!) Third, I lifted Cimmeria from the wind jackals stories by Silvestris (cuz they are just too cool!) Fourth, Ereshkigal is a Babylonian Death Goddess.

Domo arigato ~Makkura