Disney's Aladdin:

If Witches Were Horses, Part 2

By Jill Weber

Dedicated to the Entire Aladdin Mailing List,

Especially Sedeara

(Disclaimer: The Aladdin characters and City of Agrabah are copyrighted by Disney Corporation and are used without permission or intent to make a profit.)

The Sultan was balancing the budget. At least, he was going over the paperwork that his Emir of Finance assured him showed that the budget was balanced. The tiny writing was giving him a headache and his fingers were tired from manipulating an abacus all day. He hated this tedious bean counting. He would much rather leave it all in the hands of Emir Tabari, whom he trusted completely.

On the other hand, he had trusted Jafar completely and see where that had gotten him. So he had to double check everything. He was not unhappy when there was an interruption. In fact, he welcomed the chance to set aside his bean counting and receive an emissary or settle a dispute or stop for a meal.

"Yes, Fazal?" He asked Rasoul's faithful sidekick.

"Pardon the interruption, Oh Commander of the Faithful."

`Commander of the Faithful?' Using such a formal title meant serious trouble. The Sultan sighed. On the other hand, at this point, even an invasion would be better than going over more figures. "Eh, what seems to be the problem?"

"Um, well, I think you'd better see it for yourself," Fazal hemmed and hawed.

The Sultan rose and headed for the door of his study. "Give me a hint," he said.

"Um, well, Aladdin's Genie... Well, it's difficult to explain."

The Sultan held his hand up. "Never mind, I understand your problem." Anything involving that genie of Aladdin's tended to get bizarre. Come to think of it, anything involving his future son-in-law tended to get bizarre. "At least Jasmine won't have a boring marriage," he sighed to himself.

"Pardon me, Your Majesty?" Fazal said.

"Never mind," the Sultan said again. They came to the menagerie and the Sultan stopped when he saw the centaur. He had a good education and was well acquainted with centaurs' less than savory reputation. He hoped that this centaur would turn out to be a friend of the Genie's. As he got there, Iago was flapping around, molting feathers like he was throwing rice at a wedding.

"I can't believe it!" yelled Iago. "You actually found a form that has poofier hair than Aladdin normally has!"

Aladdin? The centaur was Aladdin?? Then he got a good look at the centaur. Once he got past the silvery equine half and the massive mane of midnight hair, he recognized the face. He had been right. Anything involving Aladdin tended to get bizarre.

"Uh, sorry about that, chief," Genie said contritely.

"Well, it's not exactly your fault, Genie," Aladdin said.

He took a step towards Genie and promptly fell over.

"Aladdin!" Jasmine cried.

"I'm okay," Aladdin said, rolling over and trying to get his feet under him.

"Oh, this is all my fault," Sadira said. "I should have known..."

"Known what?" Jasmine asked. "That the Witches of the Sand's healing formula was also a shape shifting formula? Who would have figured they were so..."

"Specialized," Genie supplied. "Or maybe that's specie- ized." He turned into a human with a gap toothed smile who was standing in front of a floating scroll. "And now for Genie Letterman's top ten reasons why no one could have foreseen this happening."

Aladdin held up his hands. "Please, Genie, no more lists. They remind me of Mekhanikles."

"Oh, sorry," Genie poofed back into his usual self.

Aladdin tried to stand up again.

"Maybe you should take this slowly, Al," Genie said. "Changing forms is kind of tricky."

"So I noticed," Aladdin said. He looked quizzically at Genie. "How do you make it look so easy?"

Genie *flashed* into a large blue centaur badly in need of a shave, hauled Aladdin to his four feet and said: "Al, kid, I was in the Cave of Wonders for ten thousand years with no way to get out of the lamp, nobody to keep me company and no television reception! I had to do something to amuse myself."

Sadira cleared her throat. "So, if you're an expert at changing forms, then you can turn Aladdin back into normal, right?" She looked at Genie with hope in her big blue eyes.

"Or at least what passes for normal around here," Iago added sarcastically.

"I certainly hope so," The Sultan said.

Aladdin looked around and lurched away from Genie, but couldn't coordinate his four legs. Each went in a different direction and Aladdin slid to the ground with a thump, much like a newborn colt. The Sultan chewed on his moustache to stifle a smile.

Rasoul didn't care about sparing Aladdin's feelings and he laughed out loud. "What's the matter, Street Rat? Having a little trouble walking?"

Aladdin's eyes flashed and he lurched in Rasoul's direction. He staggered and fell against Rasoul. Aladdin leaned against Rasoul's shoulder for balance and looked down at the smirking captain. Slowly, his glare lightened to a delighted grin and Rasoul's smirk faded to a worried frown as the realization hit both of them that Aladdin was looking DOWN at Rasoul.

"Rasoul! You've SHRUNK!" crowed Aladdin.

"Very funny, Street Rat," grumbled Rasoul as he tried to push Aladdin away.

On the second try, Aladdin ALLOWED Rasoul to move him. Very carefully, he walked over to the Sultan.

"I think we can dispense with the salaam this time, my boy," the Sultan said with a twinkle in his eye.

Aladdin looked startled, then he grinned. "Thank you, Your Highness," he said. "I don't seem to have complete control over this body."

"So I see," the Sultan said. "I do hope this isn't a permanent change, my boy."

"So do I," Aladdin. "But we haven't discovered a cure yet."

"And how did this come about?"

Genie whipped out something he called a television set and turned a knob. Then he was inside the television, reading from a sheet of paper.

"As you recall, in our last episode, Aladdin and his friends foiled Mekhanikles latest invasion plan."

The Sultan's eyes went wide. "Mekhanikles invaded? Jasmine, why wasn't I informed?"

Jasmine cleared her throat. "No, Father, Mekhanikles didn't actually invade Agrabah. Genie is talking about the fight we had in the mountains a few weeks ago. We stopped him and his giant Mekhanikle Krab. Unfortunately, he blew up his crab."

"I thought that was a good thing," The Sultan said.

Genie reached out from the television and tapped Jasmine on the shoulder. "Kindly leave the narration to the professionals."

"Oh, sorry, Genie," Jasmine said contritely.

Just then a blue faced version of Robert Stack (complete with black genie beard) walked on screen. "Wait a minute! *I'M* the narrator!" protested the blue Robert Stack.

Genie glared at him. "You're on the WRONG SHOW!"

Robert Stack frowned. "Isn't this Disney's Hercules?"

"NO!" Genie declared. "This is Disney's ALADDIN! And you're not only on the wrong SHOW, you are on the wrong STATION!" He points off screen. "Now scat, you're interfering with my recap."

Robert Stack gave a sniff. "Now you know how I feel. I can rarely finish a sentence before..."

Before he could finish his sentence, five gorgeous, golden-skinned goddesses galloped in and glommed onto him. "Come on, Bobby-baby," the short, full figured Muse said. "You have to go back to narrating Hercules so WE can interrupt YOU!" They carried him off screen before he could answer.

Genie stared offscreen for a minute. Jasmine tapped him on the shoulder. "The recap?" she said. "Or have you forgotten that you already have a girlfriend?"

Genie shook himself and continued in his announcer's voice. "The maniacal madman Mekhanikles blew up his crab and seriously injured Aladdin in the process."

"That was the unfortunate part," the Sultan said. "Yes, I remember that Aladdin was injured and was feeling depressed about it."

Genie threw up his hands in despair. The television disappeared. "I don't know how 'Bobby-Baby' puts up with all these interruptions," he complained.

"But Genie, you haven't gotten to the part that I don't know yet," the Sultan complained. "I already know about Aladdin's broken leg. But how did this lead to his being a centaur?"

"That's my fault," Sadira confessed. "I found a scroll that the witches of the sand used to heal horse's legs."

"And that turned him into a centaur?"

"No," Jasmine said. "It turned him into a horse. It was when Genie tried to turn him back into a human..."

"I see," the Sultan said. "So what's the next step?"

Everyone looked at the magic experts, Iago and Sadira. Sadira looked at Iago and raised her eyebrows. "I'm all ears, Iago," she said.

"I think maybe we should look at Jafar's library," Iago said.

"Do you really want a centaur wandering around the palace?" Rasoul said snidely. "Are you sure he's housebroken?"

Aladdin whirled and lunged. Rasoul was saved from injury only because Aladdin's lack of control over his legs allowed Genie to come between him and his victim. Carpet scooped the startled guard off his feet and swept him to safety.

Rasoul and Aladdin looked at each other in shock. Rasoul was shaken enough to actually thank Carpet for the rescue.

Carpet threw him into the fountain. Then returned to the others dusting his tassels off.

Aladdin felt like he was going to be sick. "I almost, I mean, I could have..." he swallowed. "Thanks, guys," he whispered.

"No sweat, Al," Genie said worriedly.

Sadira raised her forefinger. "I think maybe we should look at MY library first. After all, the original spell came from the Witches."

"That would probably be a good idea," the Sultan said. Then he remembered centaurs' reputation for bad behavior around women. "Um, Jasmine, a private word with you?" He drew her aside and said. "Perhaps you should stay here and, um, check out Jafar's library."

Jasmine regarded him soberly. "No, Father, I'm sorry, but my place is with Aladdin." The Sultan started to speak, but she held up her hand to forestall him. "I know what you're worried about, I read those same stories about centaurs and women. However, this is ALADDIN we are talking about. I trust him completely."

As he had trusted Jafar, the Sultan thought. But before he could speak, Jasmine added: "Besides, Genie and Carpet will be there to keep an eye on things."

That made the Sultan feel better. He mediated a few moments on the irony of trusting his precious daughter to a spirit and a rug, then turned his attention to helping Aladdin relearn how to walk.

After a half hour's practice, Aladdin felt secure enough on his legs to walk to the entrance of Sadira's sanctuary. (Ironically, while entrance to the Witches' sanctuary was on the other side of the market place, the actual sanctuary was almost directly under the palace.)

As they strolled through the market place, newcomers to Agrabah stared at the Genie and the centaur and the two beautiful women. Agrabah residents merely raised their eyebrows at this latest manifestation of strangeness from their princess. ("Things get bizarre around her," they whispered. "The Sultan must have shut her up in that tower too long.")

When they passed Omar's fruit stand, the stout fruit seller's eyes widened, then a mischievous smile crossed his face. "Apple?" he said, offering a large apple to Aladdin.

Genie inconspicuously leaned on Aladdin's rump. But all Aladdin did was take the apple and roll it off his arm to Jasmine. Then he tossed some coins onto the fruit stand to pay for the fruit that he assumed that Abu and Iago had stolen while nobody was watching. Since Sadira hadn't received an apple from Omar, she stole one of Iago's stolen apples.

Abu leaped onto Aladdin's equine back, then onto his human shoulder, so he could offer Aladdin one of the apples that he had stolen. Aladdin took the apple and shook his head ruefully. "You hairy little thief, he said, rubbing Abu's head affectionately.

They reached the Witches' Sanctuary with no incidents. Before they started to look through Sadira's library, they discussed ways of turning Aladdin back into a human that didn't involve the unreliable magic of the witches of the sands.

"What about the tree of renewal?" Jasmine asked.

Genie rubbed the back of his neck and turned pink with embarrassment. "Uh, sorry, Jazz, that won't work. It might have worked on the broken leg, or it might have worked on the horse, but I wouldn't try it now."

Aladdin cocked his head. "Why not?"

"Um, well..." Genie waved his hand and a chalkboard appeared in a cloud of chalk dust. Jasmine, Abu and Iago all started to sneeze. Genie then gave himself a scholar's robe and mortar board. "When you were turned into a naga, Jaz..." he said to the sneezing princess.

Pictures of Jasmine as a human and Jasmine as a snake woman appeared on the board. An arrow pointed from Jasmine-human to Jasmine-snake. "We went to the tree of renewal and you were changed from a naga to a human."

There was another puff of chalk dust and now the arrow pointed from Jasmine-snake to Jasmine-human.

"However, Al was transformed from a human to a horse." A picture of Aladdin as a human appeared, followed by an arrow, followed by a picture of Aladdin as a horse. Every picture was accompanied by a puff of chalk dust. "Then Al was changed into a centaur." Another arrow followed was by Aladdin as a centaur which was followed by another puff of chalk dust.

"So if I go to the tree of renewal, it will turn me back into a horse instead of turning me back into a human?" Aladdin asked between sneezes.

"Um, yes," Genie said. "And, combing magic with Murphy's Law, it would probably be a permanent change."

"Wonderful," sighed Jasmine, wondering why Murphy had passed such a mean law. Then she sneezed again. "Okay, what about the gold elixir? You know, the one that separated Aladdin and Mozenrath when Mozenrath tried to take over Aladdin's body?"

Genie shook his head. "Sorry, that's more of a spiritual thing, not a physical thing," he said.

Jasmine sneezed again. "It (*ah-choo!*) figures."

Sadira made a gesture with her fingers and the chalk dust disappeared and everyone stopped sneezing. "Hey, it worked," she said with pleased surprise.

"What was that spell?" Iago asked suspiciously.

"It was just something to get rid of the chalk dust," Sadira explained. "It works on sand, so I guessed it would work with dust."

"You GUESSED!" howled Iago.

A large eraser appeared over Iago's head, then swatted him on the rear. A big cloud of dust appeared and gave Iago another sneezing spell. "Very (ah-choo!) funny, Genie!" he snarled.

Sadira and Jasmine giggled at Genie's "innocent" expression.

"Sorry, Bird-man," Genie said insincerely. "I must have mistaken you for a feather duster."

"Why don't we get to work?" suggested Sadira before Iago could come up with a retort. She showed them the library and gestured to two walls of shelving. "It's kind of a mess. I've been sorting everything into two sections -- the stuff I can read and the stuff I can't read."

Jasmine looked through the scrolls on the second section -- "Hm, Greek, Latin, Sanskrit," she smiled. "I can read all this."

"Show off," Sadira snorted good naturedly. She'd learned to read from her parents before they died, but little more than the basics.

Jasmine's smile grew wider. "Well, when you're cooped up all day, you have to find something to do. Reading and learning languages were some of the few things I was permitted to do."

Genie gestured and suddenly Jasmine's sea-green harem outfit became a blue jumper with a white blouse. "Tale as old as time..." he warbled.

"Genie," Aladdin snapped. "Can we PLEASE get to work?"

Jasmine's outfit turned back to normal and everyone looked at Aladdin. Aladdin blushed. "I'm sorry. I... don't know what's wrong with me."

"Quick tempers are a centaur thing," Iago said. "Along with drinking, carousing and..."

Jasmine clamped her hand over Iago's beak. "Not in mixed company," she said in a too sweet voice.

"Jasmine?" Aladdin said worriedly. "What else? I need to know."

Genie and Jasmine exchanged looks. Genie cleared his throat. "Um, centaurs have the reputation for being, well, discourteous to women."

Aladdin looked sick.

Sadira said brightly. "Well, these scrolls aren't going to read themselves, so let's do some reading!"

Jasmine, Genie and Carpet tackled the section of "unreadable" scrolls, books, tablets and folios. Aladdin, Sadira and Iago started on the "readable" stack. Abu couldn't read, but his pickpocket's hands proved valuable in undoing locked books, unfastening knotted scroll cords and unfolding fragile parchment.

After a while, Aladdin found he could not concentrate on what he was reading. He was beginning to feel like he was suffocating, even though Sadira's anti-dust spell was keeping the air fresh. He walked away from the table and began pacing.

"Hey!" shouted Iago. "I thought you wanted to find a cure!"

"I KNOW!" bellowed Aladdin. "I just can't read anymore. I want out of this dungeon. I want out of this body! I want to GO HOME!"

The others exchanged looks. "Ah, we could take this stuff to the palace," suggested Jasmine.

"I meant, MY home," Aladdin snapped. "C'mon, Abu."

Genie swirled across the room in front of Aladdin. "Um, Al..."

"What NOW?"

Genie tapped the tips of his fingers together nervously. "I really don't think that the floor of your hovel will take your current weight!"

Aladdin took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Yeah, I guess you're right." His shoulders slumped. "I'm sorry, I just..."

Genie lit up, literally. "You just need a break! How about we all go out for falafel and coffee?" His attire changed to a chef's uniform.

Aladdin attempted a smile. Jasmine walked over to him and touched his arm. "Maybe you should stretch your legs a little," she said. "I know the horses at the palace get cranky when they've been cooped up too long. Maybe you need a little exercise."

"I'm hungry," Sadira said. She gestured to the pile of reading material. "Why don't we take some of the sturdier books with us to the palace and look them over while we have something to eat? And Aladdin can get some exercise while we do some more reading."

"That sounds like an excellent idea," Jasmine said. "My father would be glad to help us, he's even better with languages than I am."

"What about the guards," Aladdin said. "I mean..."

"I can take care of the guards," Jasmine said. "After all, I'm the princess, I can order them to leave us alone."

"Oh, right," Aladdin said. He smiled down at her. "I knew there was a reason I liked you."

Jasmine blinked up at him coyly. "You mean, it wasn't for my beauty, charm and grace?"

"No, those are only the reasons why I love you," Aladdin said, looking deeply into her eyes.

Sadira turned away sadly. She kept telling herself that she was over her crush on Aladdin, but sometimes she found herself a little hard to convince. Fortunately, Iago came to her rescue.

"Oh, come ON! I'd rather read more dusty books than put up with your mush! Either get back to work or let's take this stuff to the palace and eat!!!" the peppery parrot squalled.

"Oh, right," Aladdin said. Jasmine moved away with a rueful smile and started looking for something that looked like it wouldn't be damaged by a trip to the palace. "Maybe we should just look through Jafar's stuff while we're there," she suggested.

Abu swarmed onto Aladdin's shoulder and pointed towards the ceiling. Aladdin looked where Abu pointed and spotted three tablets on a high shelf. "What are those?" he asked, pointing.

Sadira looked and said: "Oh, those are some bronze tablets. I couldn't lift them down."

"Who'd put such heavy tablets on such a high shelf?" Jasmine wondered.

"Somebody who didn't want them to be easy to get to," Genie theorized.

"I'll get them," Aladdin said. He stretched his arms up, but couldn't quite reach. So he reared up and grasped the top tablet. "Wow, these are heavy!"

Carpet flew over to assist. Aladdin pulled the first tablet over the edge of the shelf and dropped it onto Carpet. Carpet dropped to the floor with a thud. "Sorry, Carpet," Aladdin said. He started to drop to all fours to check on his friend, then lost his balance. He fell against the bookcase... Then fell through the bookcase. The lower shelves and wall disappeared with a crash, and the shelf with the two remaining bronze tablets cracked and spilled its contents.

"Look out!" yelled Genie. He zapped the falling tablets into feather pillows that merely bounced off Aladdin's hindquarters.

"Aladdin!" Jasmine cried. She and the others rushed to Aladdin.

"I'm okay," was Aladdin's rather muffled reply.

Genie pulled him out from the wall and put him on his feet. "Tell me you didn't break anything," he pleaded.

"Only the wall," Aladdin said. "There's a secret compartment behind this bookcase."

"Oh, cool!" said Genie. "There must be a secret door in the bookcase! I wonder how you're SUPPOSED to open it?"

Carpet waved feebly from the floor.

"Oops, sorry, Rug-man," Genie said. He picked the heavy bronze tablet off of the Magic Carpet and absently stuck it into a pocket. "You okay, Rug-man?"

Carpet doubled over, like a man holding his stomach.

"Carpet?" Jasmine said with concern. She touched him gently.

"Are you hurt?" Aladdin asked.

Carpet shook his upper half `no'.

"You can't be winded," squawked Iago. "You don't have any lungs to get the breath knocked out of."

Carpet shook his upper half `no,' again. Then he slowly straightened out. Everyone gasped when they saw the damage. "Carpet, you've been slimed!" cried Genie.

"That's verdigris, not slime," Jasmine corrected. Then she shook her head. Like Genie didn't know that. "We'll get you cleaned up at the Palace," she told Carpet.

After being assured that no one was hurt, Sadira turned her attention back to the broken bookcase. "Before we leave, can we see what's behind this bookcase?"

"Oh, sure thing, Sadira," Genie said. He puffed himself into a deerstalker hat and Inverness cape and examined the bookcase through a magnifying glass. "Ah, ha! Here's the latch!" he said triumphantly. He touched a panel and the bookcase grumbled open a fraction, then stopped. "I think it's broken," Genie said. "Watson, I think we need to apply a little muscle here."

Aladdin deduced that he was Watson and helped Genie pry the bookcase all the way open. Abu and Iago scrambled for seats on Aladdin's shoulders as everyone peered into the hidden compartment and saw...

"It's only a vanity!" muttered Iago when he got a good look at the only piece of furniture in the hidden alcove.

"It's a dressing table," Jasmine corrected. She stepped back to let Sadira get in to look. Sadira walked in and grinned at her reflection. "Au, I never suspected the witches cared what they looked like. This is nice."

Genie laughed and puffed himself into a white jumpsuit covered with rhinestones. Suddenly he had hair that was even blacker and poofier than Aladdin's. "Thank'ew, ah, thank'ew verra much," he drawled.

The others chuckled at his Elvis impersonation, even though they had no idea who Elvis might be. Encouraged, Genie puffed into a female wearing a long, black robe and a crown. "Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the fairest one of all?"

The chuckles this invoked were silenced when something else was also invoked. Flames that were not reflections of anything in the room leapt in the mirror. Aladdin took a step back and instinctively pushed Jasmine behind him. Genie puffed into his usual form, took a step forward and moved in front of Sadira. Iago and Abu jumped for the safety of the Magic Carpet who backed away.

The flames died down and a floating green mask appeared. The blackness of space could be seen behind it, and only blackness showed from beneath its hooded eyelids. "I am the genie of the mirror," the mask intoned gravely. "What do you wish of..."

Sadira stepped around Genie to get a better look. The Mask's speech stopped abruptly and its eyes popped out from where-ever they had been hidden. "Great googly-moogly, Man!" the Mask yelped at Genie. "You have to ask me who the fairest in the land is when you're standing next to HER?!!"

Just then, Jasmine pushed her way past Aladdin and into the Mask's line of sight.

The Mask's jaw dropped for a few seconds. Then it regained its composure and spoke in more solemn tones. "I see your predicament, cousin," it said.

"Actually, we're not interested in having you judge a beauty contest," Sadira spoke up. She was sure she'd lose anyway, so why worry about it? It never occurred to her that other people might have other opinions on the matter. "We'd really like you to tell us how to turn Aladdin back into a human being." She gestured at Aladdin.

The others moved away and the Mask's gaze moved to Aladdin. "I see a rather awkward blending of Sand Magic and Jinn magic."

"Do you know how to undo it?" Genie asked.

The Mask's black gaze switched to Genie's face. "I believe I've seen this sort of tangle before. But it has been many millennia and I do not recall the remedy at present."

Aladdin sighed. "Darn," he said, speaking for them all.

"I will need time to search my memory," intoned the Mask. "If you would come back in the morning, I will have the answer prepared for you."

Everyone perked up. "You will? Thanks!" Aladdin said.

"No thanks are needed, I am but doing my duty," intoned the Mask. "I will need privacy and silence for my cogitations."

"Should we close the bookcase again?" asked Sadira.

"I would rather you didn't," said the Mask.

"Then I guess we might as well go get something to eat," ventured Iago, more subdued than usual. Something about the Mask reminded him of Jafar.

"That would be an excellent idea," the Mask intoned.

***

Back at the Palace, they filled the Sultan in on what had happened while they ate a picnic dinner out in the menagerie.

"I don't like that thing," Iago whined. "It talks like Jafar."

The Sultan scowled. "It couldn't have anything to do with that traitor, could it?" he asked Genie.

Genie was silent for a long while, then answered slowly and with unwonted seriousness. "No, not THAT traitor," he hesitated, then continued. "But Iago's right. There's something... wrong."

"Why is the genie confined to a mirror?" Aladdin asked. "That sounds even worse than being confined to a lamp!"

Genie shook his head. "I don't know, kid," he said. "That's what's worrying me."

"Do you think it's safe for Sadira to go home?" asked Jasmine.

"Oh, sure," Genie said. "There is no way the Genie of the Mirror can harm her."

"Good," Sadira said. "Then maybe I can help him find the cure for Aladdin. And maybe it can help me learn magic."

"It probably can," Genie said. Then he added brightly: "Maybe he can get the nasty verdigris stain off of carpet, too!"

"Oh, I saw a spell for that," Sadira said. To Carpet she added: "If you think you can trust me. This was a carpet cleaning spell."

Carpet shrugged and after dinner, he returned with Sadira to the Sanctuary.

"Welcome home, My Lady," the Mask intoned as Sadira prepared the carpet cleaning spell.

Sadira blushed. "I'm not a lady, I'm just a former thief turned witch-wannabe."

The Mask moved side to side in a negating motion. "You do yourself an injustice, My Mistress," it intoned. "Only a very special person could have won her way to the heart of this Sanctuary."

"Well, it was pure luck on my part," Sadira confessed. "I was just trying to escape from the guards when I a trap door opened under my feet and dropped me here."

"It was no coincidence that it was you who was precipitated here," the Mask said with certainty. "This is your destiny."

Sadira sighed. "I wish my destiny had a little more romance in it, too. Not that I'm not grateful for what I have," she added hastily. "It certainly beats living on the streets!"

"I see," the Mask said thoughtfully. "What of the young man who is currently in the form of a centaur? Might not you get your romance from him?"

"From Aladdin? No, he is engaged to Princess Jasmine," Sadira explained. "I tried to take him away from her once... well, actually it was three times, but he loves her and she loves him and that's all there is to it." She sighed and looked wistful. "Besides, I am over my crush on him."

"Indeed?" the Mask fell silent and Sadira succeeded in cleaning the verdigris off of Carpet without doing any damage what-so-ever.

She felt very pleased with herself. "I need to return the carpet to Aladdin," she said. "I'll be right back."

"It would be better if I were alone tonight," the Mask said. "If that won't inconvenience you, My Mistress."

Sadira cocked her head. "Oh, no, of course not. I can stay with Jasmine."

The Mask nodded slightly. "Good night, My Mistress."

"Good night, Mirror," said Sadira.

***

The next morning, they gathered in the Sanctuary to find out if the Mask had remembered the cure.

"I did not discovered the remedy I was seeking in my memory," the Mask informed them. "However, I have uncovered a spell that should serve."

"Oh, where have I heard that one before?" Iago muttered. The Mask turned its black gaze upon the parrot and Iago hid behind Carpet.

"It is a simple mirror spell," the Mask intoned. "Once cast, it will give the subject the same form as the caster. But it must be cast by the same person who turned the boy into a centaur."

Aladdin cocked his head warily. "You mean, if Sadira casts it on me, I'll turn into a human?"

"Yes."

"A human male or a human female?" asked Jasmine.

Aladdin's eyes went wide. "Good question, Jasmine. He looked at the mirror. "I really don't want to be a female," he said.

The Mask smiled slightly. "I assure you, it won't change anybody's gender."

Aladdin looked at Genie uncertainly. "What do you think?"

Genie frowned. "Can I see this spell?"

A set of diagrams appeared in place of the Mask. It showed a four pictures of a woman making gestures. Genie squinted at it then smacked his forehead. "Oh, of course! I should have remembered this one!"

The mask reappeared and smiled slightly. "I have reason to remember mirror spells," it said dryly.

"Well, it should work, Al," Genie said.

"Where..." Iago started. The Mask looked in his direction and Iago shut up.

"Okay, let's see those gestures again," Sadira said. The diagrams appeared again. "Those look easy enough," Sadira said. "No words?"

"None," replied the Mask's voice.

"Then stand back, everyone," Sadira said. She copied the gestures of the woman in the diagram. For a few moments, nothing happened, then everything went black. When their eyes cleared, they looked hopefully at Aladdin.

He was still a centaur.

"Oh, crud," said Sadira. "I don't think that came out right."

Everyone looked at Sadira... who was now a centaur.

To Be Continued