The character Key Aidan and the Book of Truth are featured in an underground comic called A.D.

No copyright infringements intended.

Yeah, I was reading Othello before I wrote this.

Unholy Night

Key examined herself in the mirror; she pouted her lips and batted her eyes and then said decidedly, "I don't understand why boys are driven crazy by girls who look like they'll fall over if you blew on them." She reached up and pulled off the jewelry, returning it to the shopkeeper.

"Not all boys, Key," replied Jasmine glancing at Aladdin with a loving look. "It’s just some are smarter than others." Key shrugged, looking more pensive than usual.

Aladdin asked, walking beside her, "Hey, is something wrong?"

"I was thinking about my book. I don't understand what that jerk would have wanted with it."

"Mozenrath? Yeah, it’s kind of weird. I mean, old Moze is only after power and from you've told us, it’s just a book of stories."

Key nodded, frowning, "Well, it’s not like he can read it anyway but. . ."

"But what?"

"Mother used to tell me, when she was teaching me how to translate the words, that I should always read the book with the most pure of heart otherwise, a shadow would find refuge in my thoughts." She looked up into the afternoon sun and blinked as the harsh light brought tears to her eyes.

"There was this one story. I used to never read it because it scared me so much. Not because it had demons or monsters but because it wasn't finished and I felt like I was the missing part that it needed. It was the very first story in the book and it wasn't written by mother or grandmother or even great grandmother. It had no title and most of the words were faded. What I could read I hated." Key paused, biting her lip. "Still, doesn't explain why that sorcerer wanted the book."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mozenrath wasn't sure whether or not he should have trusted the eyes. The ritual seemed simple enough but the results could not be predicted. The story, as the eyes told it, was concrete. The spell was not. Mozenrath contemplated this as he stroked his eel.

"Master seem happier." hissed Xerxes, pleased under the attentions he was being given.

"New power always makes me happy. Still, I must proceed with caution lest I end up like Faustus."

"Who?" Mozenrath shook his head and did not reply to his familiar’s question. Instead he stood up and studied the makeshift altar. All he needed was to read out the words of summoning and the demons would heed his call, one by one. Caution drove him to pore over the translations over and over, making certain he did not err. The consequences would probably not be to his liking.

"Stay there Xerxes. Under no circumstance should you break this circle." Mozenrath indicated the rough, chalk circles he had drawn onto the floor. The eel curled up on his throne and watched intently as his master set about beginning the spell.

Mozenrath held a dagger in one hand and held his left hand over the bowl of sulfur. He called out, his voice echoing through the room, as he cut deep into his hand. "By this blood sacrifice I call thee to me, demon of Ba'al!" When the droplets hit the black powder, it burst into flame and all Mozenrath’s lanterns grew brighter. He smiled grimly and clipped a lock of his hair, tossing it into the flames. "By the thread of my body I bind thee to me, demon of Ba'al." Inside the circle, a fierce wind began to tug on Mozenrath’s clothes and wicked voices could be heard among the moans of the wind. The fire, however, remained steady. He could feel the power around him, the intensity of the beings he was calling forth and it excited him. He threw pieces of his nails into the fire. "By the reality of my body, I give thee form, demon of Ba'al." The voices joined together, low and sultry. A figure began to take form from the smoke, becoming a sensuously beautiful young woman dressed in filmy clothes.

She stepped out of the bowl, stretching in a slow, seductive way, "Mmmm. . ." She gazed down at him and smiled with sharp, little teeth. "Why, hello there! you're a handsome one. you're awfully young to have so much power and knowledge!" She purred, sliding off the altar. "It’s such a nice change. . ." She pouted slightly. "Most sorcerers are so old and ugly."

Mozenrath stepped back, a little shaken by this creature’s form, "Uh. . . Who are you?"

She laughed, running a painted nail along his cheek, "Why, I'm a demon of Ba'al! Oh, but where are my manners? My name is Lorelei, mistress of all carnal pleasures and passions." She curled a strand of his dark hair around her finger. "Most mortals know me as Lust. And who, may I ask, are you?"

He stood a
little straighter, trying to look her in the eye. He could feel the ancient, dark power rolling off this woman in slow, languorous waves.

"I am Mozenrath, Lord of the Black Sand. I have a purpose in calling you."

Lorelei laughed again, her eyes lighting up with delight, "Of course. I am bound to you." She leaned closer to him and whispered confidentially, her hot, sweet breath against his neck, "I'll do anything you wish, master." Mozenrath stepped back, trying to shake off the effect the demon had on him.

"I have a job for you to do. Elsewhere." Lorelei pouted again. Mozenrath reached out his right hand and a vision of Agrabah appeared. It centered on the marketplace where Aladdin, Jasmine and that annoying white-haired girl were wandering around. "That boy. I want you to get rid of him."

"Oh, but master, that’s really not my. . ."

Mozenrath glared at her, "I don't care how you do it. Just make sure he’s out of the picture. I want the city, the throne of Agrabah."

Lorelei shrugged, "Well, I will see what I can do but this really sounds something for Aires." She snapped her fingers and vanished from view with a wicked laugh.

Mozenrath watched the images of Aladdin with intent as he prepared for the next ritual. There was no such thing as overkill.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Key felt ill all of the sudden and she leaned against the wall. Jasmine rushed over and touched her arm, "Are you all right, Key?"

Key shook her head, the images before her spinning, "I don't feel so good." She looked up and saw something strange fly across the sky in the corner of her eye. It looked like a young woman with long hair. "Did you see that?"

"See what?"

Key glanced around but saw nothing more. It was so hot. Not normal, desert hot. Weird hot, the kind of hot that drove lovers to dark corners and shaded bedrooms. She sighed, rubbing her face, "Nothing. I must be hallucinating."

"We should go back to the palace."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Well, is she going to be okay?" Aladdin asked quietly.

Jasmine closed the door and replied, "Genie’s looking after her so I think she'll be fine." They walked to the garden, watching the sunset brush the edges of the trees with a hot, lush red. Aladdin slipped his arm around the woman he loved. She rested her head against his shoulder, wrapping her arms around his waist. "It’s such a beautiful sunset."

"Yeah, but you're much more beautiful." He lifted up her face and kissed her. They leaned back into the grass, unaware of the eyes that watched them.

"And now, to pull the strings a little." Lorelei cackled, watching the couple from a tree.

"I think you should leave, Aladdin." Jasmine stood up, the love and desire had suddenly left her. She looked down at him with distaste. She ran back into the palace and left Aladdin alone. He looked around, thoroughly confused and chased after her.

Lorelei giggled, "I haven't had this much fun in a long time. Now to create a suitable betrayal."

Aladdin heard a familiar coy laugh and followed it. He was so worried about Jasmine, he hoped she wasn't upset with him. By Allah, that would kill him if she were upset with. . . Aladdin stopped in his tracks and hurried back out of the palace. Out into the streets. He felt as if his heart was torn into pieces. By Allah. . . she. . . He tried to shake the images from his head by running. Farther, faster from the walled loyalties he once thought he had.

"Lorelei." She appeared at Mozenrath’s side, leaning against him. "As much as I find this amusing, it really won't help." He disengaged her from his arm.

"Oh but, master, this is what I do. Lust can destroy people, but it takes awhile so I prefer to specialize in. . ." She coughed quietly to emphasize her point, "pleasure."

Mozenrath leaned against the throne and sat in silent, sullen thought for a long time. Then he asked, "How long is this going to last?"

"As long as the boy doesn't see the truth. I can see, my handsome master, you have a strategy?"

"Cut off a man from his allies and you have him. I have an excellent idea." A wicked grin stretched across Mozenrath’s face. He placed the last ingredient in the flame. "By the shadows of night, I give thee form, demon of Ba'al!" Slow, slow, a mist spread across the floor. Xerxes felt himself drifting to sleep.

Lorelei giggled, clapping her hands, "Brother!" The mist curled up her sleek legs.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sudden pains shot through Key’s stomach, waking her from restless sleep and she stumbled out of bed. "Ge. . . Genie!" She collapsed on the ground as the blue djinn popped out of his lamp holding a tray of muffins. He dropped them the instant he saw the girl crumpled on the floor in pain.

"Key! What’s wrong?"

She groaned, scratching at the floor.

"don't know.
Never. . . felt. . . this bad." Her cat pawed against her, wide-eyed with panic and concern. "Oh, Oberon." The animal meowed. "Yeah. I though SO. . ." Key pulled herself off the floor.

"You shouldn't be walking around!" Genie caught her as the girl lost her balance.

"It’s bad magic, Genie. Not just on me. . ." She struggled to say more but the pain won over and she slipped back into unconsciousness. Genie lay her onto the bed.

"Bad magic eh?" This sounds like a job for Super Genie!" With a puff of smoke, he suddenly wore a tutu and pink tights. "Oops, wrong costume." Another puff of smoke and this time he wore a cape and tights in bright, bold colours. "Must find Al!"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Genie found Aladdin gazing out the window of his hovel. He was staring at the palace as if it were the last time he would ever see it again.

"Hey Al!"

Aladdin didn't bother turning around, "Hi, Genie." His tone was sad, not sort-of-down sad but I’m-going-to-kill-myself sad.

Genie floated in front of his friend, "Hey, Al, what’s wrong?"

Aladdin turned away, crossing his arms, "Nothing. Just leave me alone."

"Hey, I know that look! Something’s wrong." Aladdin ignored him. "Talk to me, Al, as they say, it cures what ails ya!"

Aladdin sighed, frustrated, "What do you want, Genie? Why aren't you watching after Key?"

"That’s just what I wanted to talk to you about! Key says there’s bad magic in the air. Well, technically, Oberon was the one who suggested it though I wouldn't really trust a ca. . ."

Aladdin interrupted, falling back onto a ragged pillow, "So?"

"Al, does the word 'hero’ ring a bell? This might be serious."

Aladdin rolled onto his side, replying with a detached laziness, "I don't care anymore. Agrabah can rot." Genie could only stare at him in anxious shock.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mozenrath laughed with satisfaction at the images of Aladdin’s self-pity. He said, triumphantly, "Excellent. An apathetic hero and a city at my mercy!"

Lorelei stopped tickling Xerxes’ belly and looked up at him, "Master, do you intend to raise the rest of my brothers?" She walked over to him, her hips swinging with brazen sensuality. The entire floor was covered with the low fog of Morpheus’ body. Her footsteps cut brief glimpses of the marble flooring through the mist.

"In due time. But I must think of some way to kill off Aladdin. Something poetically ironic."

Lorelei draped herself across Mozenrath’s lap, playing with the edges of his turban, "You know, master, it wasn't Jasmine Aladdin saw with Prince Cassius but jealousy can drive a man to delicious lengths." She smiled wickedly.

"What on. . ." He gazed down at Lorelei who winked. "Are you suggesting that Aladdin kill. . .?" Lorelei nodded. Mozenrath stood up, depositing the demon onto the floor. "That is an excellent idea, Lorelei."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Black, surrounded by darkness. No, it was not darkness. Blind! Key felt out through the empty black. She brushed her hand against small figurines, they clattered against a ground that was not there. Key picked one up, feeling it’s tiny features. They had been sitting on a raised platform on a table with no legs. There were only five. One that felt like it wasn't really there, one that had a round body but it was as hard as stone. One smelled like money. One was cold to the touch and the last one melted in her hand. It was sticky like honey. Key walked carefully, further into the dark. She bumped into something sprawled on the floor. It was warm and soft. It felt like someone had fallen asleep on the floor.

'Hello?’ Her voice echoed into nothingness even so, there was no response. She felt along the face, she couldn't see what it was. And then like a flash of lightening, she knew who it was. She began to scream.

Key fell out of the bed a second time, she was still screaming, clutching the thin blanket. When her voice broke, she gasped for air and realized her eyes were still shut. Key slowly opened them. She was back in the palace. Safe. She felt much better. The pain had completely vanished. Key looked around the room for Genie’s lamp but found nothing.

"Genie?" No answer. "Aladdin? Jasmine?" Nothing. "Sultan? Oberon?" The palace was empty. She stepped out into the balcony and knew instantly she was still dreaming. Agrabah was gone, replaced by the yawning void of stars that floated before her. Key gripped the railing. She did not want to look into that vast expanse of space lest she go mad.

YOU SHOULD NOT BE HERE. The voice echoed through the emptiness. Key looked up.

"Here? Where? Who are you?"

YOU ALREADY KNOW. A burst of light blinded Key.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Key woke up a second time
and startled Oberon. The cat meowed plaintively with concern for his mistress. Key picked him up and scratched him behind the ears.

"I feel a bit better, not as bad before." Oberon purred at her attentions. "I had the weirdest dream." Key walked out onto the balcony. The garden, the city was still there. She could hear the voices rise from the streets. She was glad she wasn't alone. "I agree, Oberon, there is something very, very wrong here. Something... that doesn't belong." (Like you.) Key shook her head, why would she think something like that? She was a guest at the Palace and she had no intentions in over-staying the Sultan’s hospitality.

The six devils of Ba'al. They were the incarnations of Lust, Sloth, Greed, Pride, Jealousy and Hate. Lust was a beautiful woman whose heart was made of stone. (The figurine.) Key bit her lip. The figurines from her dream.

"I suppose there’s a lot about the book, and mother, and me, that I don't know about." If the figurines represented the six devils of Ba'al, why did she dream about them? The story wasn't that good. Most of it was dialogue and the spell that Faustus cast was really bad as far as poetry went and. . . "Wait a second! Could it be that all this time my stories were really magic?" She hit herself on the forehead. "Why didn't I figure this out sooner?" Oberon meowed. "But why wouldn't mother want to tell me? More importantly, why are the six devils here?"

(Note to reader: There is a long, long paragraph about how Key figures out, through hypothesis and questions, what’s really up. But she didn't want to bore you with the details.)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mozenrath leaned forward in anticipation as he watched Aladdin walk into the throne room. He did not notice the hungry leers of the demons. He only saw his hate of Aladdin and the subtle form of Aires floating beside Aladdin, whispering terrible things into his ear.

The voice hissed, quietly so that only Aladdin could hear, images of Jasmine’s infidelity, of her passionate embraces with Prince Cassius. Her lies, her deceits that only Mozenrath and the demons knew were untrue.

Jasmine ran to Aladdin, smiling, unaware of his seething jealousy.

"Aladdin!"

"Come here, Jasmine." She looked at him oddly but stepped closer to him anyway.

"Are you all right, Aladdin?"

"Let me see your eyes." He pulled her closer, staring into her face. Jasmine tried to break free but his grip was too strong.

"Aladdin, you're acting weird."

"Who are you, Princess Jasmine?"

Jasmine pulled away from him, unnerved by his strange behavior, "Why? don't you remember? I'm your fiancée!" Aladdin gazed at her as if she lied.

"Oh? I was under the impression that you were Prince Cassius’ fiancée." He spat those words out like they were poison.

Aladdin would kill Jasmine, thinking she was untrue and the Sultan would have him executed. It was the perfect plan. Mozenrath smiled as his scheme played out its final moments.

Mozenrath’s vision blurred just as Aladdin attacked his once beloved Jasmine. He rubbed his eyes and when he opened them, he was in a serene forest clearing. At his feet was the imprint in the grass of someone who had been sitting there a very long time. A small river flowed nearby.

"Not now!" He muttered. "This is becoming incredibly annoying."

"Master!" Lorelei’s voice brought him back to his citadel, back to the land of the Black Sands.

"What?" Lorelei pointed at the small, white-haired girl running into the throne room. Under her arm was a heavy, ancient book that she threw at Aladdin’s head. Mozenrath swore.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As the book made contact with Aladdin’s temple, he saw briefly a shadow standing beside him and then, darkness.

Key helped Jasmine from the ground.

"Are you okay, Jasmine?"

She rubbed her neck, nodding, "As soon as I catch my breath." Her voice was quivering and she was on the verge of tears. "Why? Why did he just turn on me? I never gave him reason to."

Key picked up her book, "I realized something today about this book and why my mother always told me to have a pure heart when I read it. These stories are true, word for word and all the spells here are real. Someone helped Mozenrath read the story and release the Six Devils."

"What does that have to do with Aladdin trying to kill me?"

Key doubled over suddenly, gasping for air, "Hold onto that thought." She turned around and grabbed at something invisible. "you're not catching me twice." The thing shrieked, turning solid for a moment before vanishing completely.

Jasmine shivered, "What was that?"

"That was a weakened demon named Aires, I think. The incarnation of Hate." Key stumbled onto the ground. "I don't understand why it didn't affect me the same as it’s been screwing around with everyone else’s emotions."

"you're saying Aladdin was
being controlled?"

"Manipulated is more like it. I had to think about this a lot. I'm not even sure if it’s the right answer."

"And Mozenrath’s behind this?" Key nodded. "Figures. Is Aladdin going to be okay?"

"I don't know." Key smiled sadly. "I hope so."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mozenrath slammed his fist against the arm of the throne.

"You failed me!"

The demons gazed at him impassively. Lorelei drew herself up to her full length, towering over Mozenrath.

"You did not tell us that girl was there."

Mozenrath raised an eyebrow, "What is so special about her?"

Lorelei laughed, her brothers joining in. Their laughter was horrible. Lorelei grinned viciously, "I'm not going to warn you about her. However, there is a matter of payment." Mozenrath tried to lift his right hand but found himself frozen in place, helpless before the five demons. Lorelei sat on his lap, gazing at him deeply in the eyes. Then she spat on the ground. "You have a pretty face but your soul’s worthless. I think leaving you there for the rest of your short life, unable to move, is payment enough. I'm sure you have lots of enemies who would delight in seeing you so. . . weak." She kissed him. Her lips tasted, at first, as sweet as honey. Yet, as she disappeared, the taste decayed into something bitter and awful but Mozenrath could not do anything but scream.

"I'm so sorry, Jasmine." Aladdin said as he felt the familiar hand touch his shoulder.

Jasmine shook her head, "It wasn't your fault, Aladdin. Mozenrath had you under a spell."

"Still, I should have been able to control myself. If Key hadn't hit me. . . I would have killed you."

Jasmine wrapped her arms around him, not letting him pull away, "We owe a lot to her."

"Yeah. I'm glad though. I wonder what she’s going to do now that she knows the secret of her book."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The visions descended on Mozenrath again, taking him away from his helpless body and freed him from the prison of Lorelei’s spell. He stood in a field of tall grass. This vision soon faded into darkness. The Eyes flickered open and said with a sigh, "Ah, I see that did not do the trick. Do not fret, though, you will not be powerless for long."

To be continued. . .