The Song of Cacophona Part 5 of 8 Part 4 Bitterly, Cantera shook her head as she felt the sorcerer slip away. She still had part of him, though. The Metabelis crystal glowed with a steady blue glow. At its heart, a darkness pulsed with the regularity of a heartbeat. _Do not fret, Cantera,_ came that symphonous voice in her head. "He got away!" she exclaimed, half with exasperation at his escape and half with the pain caused when Cacophona spoke to her. _But you still have him,_ the voice explained. _Look to the crystal. When you need him, you will be able to call him to you using this piece of his soul._ She bowed her head in deference to Cacophona's wisdom. "As you say, Lady." She caressed the glowing blue crystal before tucking it safely back into her robe. *** Aladdin and the others startled as someone burst out of the darkness and collapsed in front of them. Approaching cautiously in the gloom, the group advanced for a better look. "Mozenrath!" Aladdin shouted, recognizing the dark, grime covered clothing. He rushed forward and turned the sorcerer over. Jasmine and Asad knelt by Aladdin. The sorcerer's face was paler than usual, almost chalky. "What happened?" Jasmine wondered aloud. "Is he still alive?" "It'd save us a lot of trouble if he managed to get himself killed, ya know," Iago said. Xerxes dove out of the darkness and knocked the parrot from his perch on Carpet. "Hey! Cut that out, slug-breath!" The parrot rubbed his backside and grumbled. "Xerxes! Stop it!" Aladdin shouted. Xerxes, startled by Aladdin's shout, reared back. "If he's dead, we're all good as dead," Aladdin snapped at Iago. Genie shrank in size as he assumed one of his many baffling forms. When the change had finished, he looked like a bizarre puppy child combination, with floppy black ears, large eyes and a red nose. Still wearing his vapor trail, he floated over to the parrot, grabbed him and hugged him so hard Iago's eyes popped. "Yeah," Genie drawled in a strangely accented voice. "Mozenrath is our special friend now." Iago clawed and scratched his way out of Genie's hold. Flapping madly to stay aloft while he caught his breath, he glared at the djinni. "Sometimes, you are *too* weird." Turning, he flew to Jasmine's shoulder. "Protect me, Princess!" he pleaded. "Faboo," Genie said cryptically. "Genie," Aladdin said, diverting the attention away from Iago. Still in this strange form, the djinni floated over to his friend. Jasmine stroked Iago's feathers absently while she stood and backed away from the sorcerer. Asad held his sword at the ready should he need it. "What is your command, O Master?" Genie intoned, still wearing the odd shape he had assumed and speaking in that accented voice. "Cut it out, Genie," Aladdin said shortly. He looked at the flying eel. "Xerxes, what happened?" Aladdin asked Xerxes shrank back a moment before gathering his wits. "Cantera hurt Master." He pushed forward with a great deal of bravado. Aladdin furrowed his forehead as he frowned at the eel. "What do you mean by that?" Xerxes did a flip and settled across Mozenrath. "Cantera have crystal. Crystal hurt Master." "Crystal? What sort of crystal?" Xerxes shook his scaly head. "Not know." Frowning, Aladdin checked the sorcerer's body. No obvious wounds. Picking up the other man's left hand, he checked the pulse there. His heartbeat was strong, breathing, and yet he remained unconscious. "What's wrong with him, then?" he mused aloud. Genie slipped back into his own shape, losing the vapor trail and growing legs. Kneeling by Mozenrath, he whipped a box- like device out of his sash. Flipping it open, he waved it over the sorcerer's body. "He's dead, Jim," he said flatly. Aladdin looked at the djinni sharply. "He's not dead, Genie! He's breathing!" Genie smacked the box, which protested with a series of blips and bleeps. "Piece of junk. Still, it might go for a few bucks at a con." He shook it and held it over Mozenrath's inert body again. "Ah, there we go. He's suffered some sort of damage. Can't quite make out what it is, though...Neurotransmitter levels are way up, endorphins, blood chemistry off the scale, EM readings--" Genie blushed and quickly put away the device. "Never scan the brainwaves of evil sorcerers, Al. They're not pretty pictures." "So why won't he wake up?" "Perhaps if this buffoon would get his knee off my chest, before I relieve him of it..." a sarcastic voice said from below. Aladdin looked down at Mozenrath. He was awake and his eyes were haunted as he glared at the djinni. Genie looked down; his knee was resting squarely on the young man's chest. "Heh heh," he laughed nervously, and straightened. "Sorry 'bout that." He backed away as Mozenrath glared at him. "I'll just...go...look outside," he said just before zipping out of the room. Asad moved forward with his sword half-drawn. "What happened to you?" Aladdin said as he stood up; he waved Asad back. The guard drew back a distance, but kept within striking distance should Mozenrath try anything. Sitting up, Mozenrath winced. The empty place the crystal had made in him ached; an empty, echoing place where his being used to dwell. He felt stretched thin, transparent nearly. Pushing that ache into the background, he focused his attention on Aladdin and the others. They stood looking down at him, accusation plain on their faces. He was going to have to work hard to regain their trust; he needed their help more than ever. He was not going to tell them that, however. Pulling himself together, he climbed unsteadily to his feet. "She tried to trap me, drain my power," he said smoothly. Not a complete lie, but not the entire truth, either. "For this mad scheme of hers." He wrinkled his nose in distaste at the dust and grime that covered his clothes. "We need to find whatever it is Cantera is looking for before she finds it. Get her out of Agrabah quickly before she can--" "Why are you so suddenly interested in getting her out of Agrabah?" Aladdin interrupted him. "I thought you didn't care what happened so long as your own lands, and you, were safe?" Mozenrath looked at the street rat with a fair amount of puzzlement. "I thought you *wanted* my help." "Yes, we *did* want it. But you weren't being so helpful before. What happened to change that?" Mozenrath shrugged. "I'm feeling magnanimous. You did help me when I needed it; it's only fair that I help you." 'Besides, she has part of my soul,' he added silently. Aladdin laughed in his face. Mozenrath bristled and clenched his hands at his sides. "*You're* feeling magnanimous? Don't be ridiculous." Suddenly he was serious. "What do you *really* want, Mozenrath? That's the only reason you'd be willing to help us." Mozenrath glared at him a moment then smiled suddenly. Open, friendly, only slightly mocking. "You certainly are suspicious. Perhaps you did learn something in Keshvar." Mozenrath brushed some imaginary dust from his cloak to stall for time as he pondered exactly what to tell his would-be allies; the gesture turned into a grimace as something twisted in his chest. It did not escape his notice that Aladdin's eyes clouded over at the same instant. Jasmine saw it happen, too. She stepped forward and took Aladdin's arm. "Aladdin?" He held up a hand. "No, I'm all right." She nodded and stepped back. Coming to the decision that it's always easier to tell the truth than it is to tell a convincing and consistent lie, Mozenrath spoke: "All right, this is the situation: You want Cantera out of Agrabah and I want to eliminate a threat to myself. It's as simple as that; accomplish the one and the other will follow." Aladdin crossed his arms over his chest and gave Mozenrath a cool look. "That *was* the deal. You broke that when you skipped out on us." "Aladdin, Aladdin..." Mozenrath purred. "Surely you don't think I would have dishonoréd our contract." He managed to look smug and hurt at the same time. "Then what happened to you?" Jasmine interjected. Turning to the princess, he smiled a smile smooth as silk as he salaamed shallowly in her direction; a gesture that bordered on insult considering her rank. "We were attacked and I was taken prisoner. It's as simple as that." Again, the truth--with a little modification. She looked suspiciously at him but said nothing else. He smirked at them. "Do you want my help or not? And after all, who else is going to help you?" Aladdin stood back, arms crossed over his chest. He looked at Mozenrath curiously a moment, then glanced at Jasmine. She nodded so slightly that only he noticed. Returning his attention to the sorcerer, he asked, "Are you offering?" Taking a step back and rubbing his chin thoughtfully, Mozenrath reviewed his options. With Cantera holding a good chunk of his soul, there was little he could do alone. Not that he'd admit that to Aladdin. He inclined his head. "I'm offering--on one condition." He held up his right hand. "Remove this. I can't help you crippled as I am. I can't even help myself." "You should not remove the manacle," Asad said, earning himself a glare from Mozenrath. "It is the only thing that keeps him here." Aladdin nodded. "Asad's right. How do I know you won't just bolt back to your own lands and leave us to suffer under Cantera's attack?" Mozenrath lowered his hand and covered the manacle with his left hand. The metal was cool to his touch; it tingled against his flesh. "Because Cantera plans to try and recreate the harmonics to bring Cacophona back. If that happens, I won't be safe even in my lands. I told you that once." "Can she do that?" Al asked, incredulous. "Bring Cacophona back?" "I don't know; I doubt it. But she's going to try." Before Aladdin could say anything else, Genie zipped into the room. "Ghuls approaching, Al. We need to move." Aladdin nodded. He looked at Jasmine, who inclined her head. To the djinni, Aladdin said, "Release him." Genie looked dubious but shrugged. "Your funeral, I guess." He took Mozenrath's outstretched hand and zapped the manacle with his power. It fell to the floor in two halves. Before Mozenrath could bend down and pick them up, the djinni snatched them. "Uh uh uh...Those are mine." They disappeared into Genie's sash. Mozenrath whirled around at the sound of the approaching ghuls. "Get down," he ordered. Barely did they have time to dive for cover before he gathered his power and threw it at the doorway. The blue-black energy engulfed the ghuls in the doorway; the ghuls, the doorway and the wall exploded. The place shook with the reverberations of the explosion. Blocks and timbers were pounded into dust and splinters that rained down on them for several minutes after the echoes had died away. Aladdin cautiously lifted his head and looked around at the destruction the sorcerer had wrought. Not only were the ghuls gone, but so was the whole *wall*. He shuddered with a renewed respect for Mozenrath's power. Picking himself up, he crawled over to Jasmine. "You all right?" he asked softly as he took her hand. "Just a little shaken," she said, giving him a wry smile. Once certain the others were unharmed, he approached the sorcerer. Mozenrath had not moved since the blast. Nor was he covered in plaster dust or debris; he must have shielded himself, Aladdin thought. Something he hadn't done for the others. There was an odd expression on the sorcerer's face as he stood there surveying the damage and rubbing his right wrist. "Did you have to take out the entire wall?" Aladdin asked. Mozenrath's eyes focused on Aladdin slowly, as if drawing himself back from a distance. "How do you stop something that's already dead? Hack it, smash it, or blow it to bits. Even then, it doesn't always work." He pointed at Aladdin's feet. Aladdin glanced down and jumped back as a dismembered hand pulled itself along by it's fingertips. Shivering with disgust, he shoved it aside with his foot. He looked at Mozenrath and was about to speak when Mozenrath's voice stopped him. "She's found the Place of Harmony." *** Her footsteps echoed strangely as she reverently entered the amphitheatre. The ghuls brought in torches to light the place. Where she stood, she could hear each shambling footstep, the crackle of the flames, the skittering of the rats in the shadows as they were disturbed by the ghuls. A steady pulsing puzzled her; she tired to orient on the reflected sound only to have it evade her. Then she realized: It was the sound of her own heartbeat, reflected back at her and amplified a thousandfold. Cantera gave a wordless cry of victory; the echoes returned to her strengthened until they deafened her. Just as Cacophona had said, the Theatre was still here and the reflecting crystals intact. "Over here!" she ordered one of the ghuls. "Find the amplification crystals and uncover them!" The ghuls shambled to the perimeter and shifted the debris aside as they sought the crystals. Cantera spotted a large block in which were sunk several rings. Smiling evilly, she motioned for several of the ghuls to approach. "That block--bring it here," she ordered, indicating a spot in the center of the stage. "I might have use for it." *** "The Place of Harmony?" Aladdin asked. "What's that?" "There's not a 'Place of Harmony' in Agrabah," Jasmine said. "I'd know about it if there were." Mozenrath shook his head, and gestured impatiently. "That's only what she's calling it; it's the old Agrabah Theatre." At Aladdin's blank look, he rolled his eyes in disgust. "Don't you know *anything* about your own city?" Jasmine held up a hand to stop Aladdin's outburst. "I do. The Theatre is gone; it doesn't exist any more." Mozenrath shook his head. "It does--down here. It wasn't destroyed, just lost." The princess narrowed her eyes at him. "How do you so much about Agrabah and its past?" "It pays to know one's enemies." The sorcerer gave her a sly smile but said nothing more. Aladdin took Jasmine's arm and drew her aside. "Jasmine, it's possible what he says is true. Remember the, uh, music box incident?" He gave Mozenrath a suspicious look, hoping the sorcerer's curiosity wouldn't become piqued by the reference. Jasmine nodded, also reminded of the time Mirage had placed a sleeping spell on Agrabah. There was definitely more to the undercity than anyone in recent times had realized. Even though the Sultan had started an investigation into the undercity to learn its secrets, they still had only uncovered a fraction of the ruins. They looked back at Mozenrath, who waited impatiently with arms folded over his chest. "Well? Are we going to stand here or are we going to do something to stop this crazy female?" Jasmine raised her eyebrows at him. "And just what do you suggest we do?" "I *suggest* we get out of here. The entire time we stand around here debating the issue, we might be caught. I want to know what Cantera is up to, but I want to do it on my own terms, not hers." "I hate to say it, but the kid's got a point," Genie said. "Yeah, let's get out of this creepy place," Iago muttered. Aladdin nodded. Without any prompting, Mozenrath moved to the front of the line. Aladdin looked at him questioningly, but said nothing. Holding up his hand for silence, the sorcerer scanned ahead with his undersenses. "Xerxes, go find Cantera." The eel slid into the blackness and was gone. After a moment, Mozenrath created a small globe of blue mage-light. It provided just enough illumination that they could see where they were going, but not bright enough to call attention to themselves. Creeping silently through the gloom, they followed Mozenrath's directions as he navigated them through the tunnels with Xerxes' help. After several turnings, he motioned sharply for them to get back. They flattened themselves against the tunnel walls in strained silence as the patrol of ghuls passed within inches of them. Once the patrol had passed, they released a collectively held breath. Aladdin crept forward close to Mozenrath. "Why don't you just make us invisible? So they can't see us?" he whispered. Mozenrath shook his head. "It wouldn't do any good. Ghuls can penetrate a glamour and Cantera is most certainly able to--" He bit off his words before he could betray himself. "Cantera is able to do what?" Aladdin prompted. "Nothing," Mozenrath snapped. "Come on. We've got to get moving." He turned away abruptly, moving into the darkness. Aladdin decided not to pursue the issue. He signaled the rest of the group to follow. They moved quietly in the sorcerer's wake. *** The ghuls hauled the huge chunks of fallen masonry aside to reveal the reflecting crystals. The amphitheatre had been built on a circular axis, though only two thirds of the area had been given over to seating. The stage occupied that last third; tiered, there were several levels to it to allow for a wider range of options for staging productions. The crystals were on the top tier. None of this interested the Priestess of Cacophona. As the ghuls uncovered the reflectors, she watched from the center of the stage, calculating the distances between the huge block by which she stood and the crystals. They were set equidistant from one another, at the compass points, which placed her in the rough center of their focus. Closing her eyes, Cantera drew in a breath, held it a moment, then began to sing. It was an old hymn to Cacophona, one of the simplest. Her voice lent it a complexity not usually heard. Bold and strong, the words reverberated around the cavern, to be absorbed by the crystals then returned strengthened to her. She stopped singing and listened to the echoes as they fell on her sensitive ears; trained from birth to hear the subtle language of music that was the language of Tinnabula, she could pick out each word and understand how the reflection had changed them. She moved a pace to the right, then back, adjusting her position until satisfied. "Perfect," she breathed, only to hear the word come back to her as if some other being had spoken it. She ordered a nearby ghul to bring a makeshift apparatus to her and place it where she stood. It dragged the construct into place: Three long timbers lashed together to form a rough tripod. Upon this, she hung her golden bells. A voice sounded in her head, causing her to cringe as the words echoed in her mind. _It is time, Cantera. Time to bring the sorcerer to us. Time to put our plans into action._ The firelight blurred and swam before her eyes as Cacophona's voice stabbed through her skull. Blinking away the tears of torment, she reached into her robe and withdrew the six- sided Metabelis crystal. Her grimace of pain twisted into a sinister look of glee. The pulsing glow from the crystal lit her face from below, turning it into a grinning death mask. She whispered the words that would call the rest of the sorcerer's soul to join the rest of it. "*Metabela...*" "It is time, Mozenrath," she whispered. Her whisper came back to her as an affirmation. She looked up and stared into the darkness. "Time for you to die!" The echoes shook dust from the ceiling. Die...die...die... ***** MORE TO COME...