You feel a harsh wind blow across your face. You open your eyes to see you're in the palace from your previous dream. The dark clouds spiral around the palace. The palace shakes and the roof overhead rips off.
You duck and cover your head as debris falls around you. Looking up, you see the king and prince from before with a girl you haven't seen before. The king's hat lifts off his head. He tries to grab it but ends up floating with it. Red magic swirls around him and his clothes vanish except his undergarments.
Dark laughter draws your attention to Jafar who stands on a platform. Jafar's clothes change from black and crimson red to the kings white robes. Iago sits on one of his shoulders, wearing a similar hat.
The king narrows his eyes at him. "Jafar! You vile betrayer!"
"That's Sultan Vile Betrayer to you!" Iago shouts.
"Oh yeah?" The prince grins. "Well, we'll see about that." He pulls of his own hat and his grin drops. "The lamp."
Jafar laughs. "Finders keepers."
A large shadow falls over you. Looking up, you gasp. A blue genie the size of a mountain looms over the palace. The prince whistles and a flying carpet swoops down. He hops onto the carpet and fly to the genie.
"Genie! Stop!"
The genie looks to the boy sadly. "Sorry kid, I've got a new master now."
"Jafar, I order you to stop!" The king demands.
"There's a new order now, my order!" Jafar grins. "Finally, you will bow to me!"
The girl steps forward. "We will never bow to you!"
"If you will not bow before a sultan, then you will cower before a sorcerer!" Jafar turns to the genie who hides behind a tower. "Genie! My second wish, I wish to be the most powerful sorcerer in the world!"
The genie covers his eyes and points a finger. Lightning shoots from his fingertip and hits Jafar. Jafar's normal clothes reappear.
Iago flys to the king and the girl. "Ladies and gentlemen, a warm Agrabah welcome for Sorcerer Jafar!"
"Now where were we?" Jafar grins. "Ah, yes. Abject humiliation!"
He zaps the girl and the king with his staff. Red clouds of magic force them both bow to him. A tiger roars and comes running at Jafar.
"Down boy!" Jafar sends another bolt of magic and the tiger turns into a kitten.
"Oh, princess," Jafar forces the princess to stand next to him. "There's someone I'm dying to introduce you to."
"Get your hands off her!" The prince swoops down on the carpet.
Jafar sends a bolt of magic at him, knocking the boy off. Red magic surrounds the boy and Jafar forces him and the princess close together.
"Prince Ali. Yes, it is he but not as you know him." Jafar releases them from the magic. "Say hello to your precious Prince Ali!"
Jafar blast the prince with magic and his royal clothes changed. Now he only wears a cropped vest and patchy parachute pants.
"Or should we say Aladdin?" Iago squawks.
The princess runs to the boy. He holds her hands in his. "I'm so sorry. I tried to tell you."
"So Ali turns out to be merely Aladdin." Jafar lifts Aladdin into the air. Crimson red magic spirals in a circle around him. "Just a con, need I go on? Take it from me."
Aladdin is turned upside down and Jafar patronizingly pats his cheeks. "His personality flaws give me adequate cause to send him packing on a one-way trip. His assets frozen, the venue chosen is the ends of the earth!"
Aladdin is lifted to one of the towers and goes through a window. Jafar swings his staff and the tower launches like a rocket into the air.
"So long, ex-prince Ali!"
Jafar laughs and the princess and king cower in his shadow. The ripples fill your vision and your pulled away.
You jolt from your bed, your heart racing. You try to steady your breathing. That was probably the most terrifying dream I've had yet.
A knock comes from the door. Jade walks into the room. "Y/N. Grim. It's time to wake up."
Grim groggily sits up. "Myah... Are we marchin' to the oasis?"
Azul stands by the door. "No, we're waking up early precisely to avoid that. Come along, now."
Azul, Jade and Grim stand in Kalim's room. Jade gently nudges Kalim awake. "Good morning, Kalim."
"Mm..." Kalim looks around bleary eyed. "Izzat you, Jamil? Morning..."
Jade chuckles. "No, it's Jade. Though our names do sound a bit similar."
Kalim looks at the group in surprise. "Wait, what? What are you all doing here?"
Jade gestures to a cup resting on the bedside table, steam slowly rising. "I've brought some tea to wake you up and a change of clothes. Now rise and come with me, if you please."
Kalim sits up. "What's going on? Where's Jamil?"
Azul steps forward. "Don't worry. We're perfectly capable of helping you get dressed without him."
A knock comes from the door and opens to reveal Jamil. "Kalim, it's time to... what? Azul? Jade? Grim and..." Jamil stares at them in shock. "What are you doing in Kalim's room?"
Azul smiles at the stunned boy. "Ah, good morning, Jamil! You're welcome to sleep in today. In fact, I encourage it. We'll be taking care of Kalim starting now until the end of break."
"What?"
"After our chat last night, I realized something." Azul continues. "Who's the busiest guy in this dorm? It's you, Jamil!"
Jade brings a hand to his chest. "We've been taking advantage of Scarabia's hospitality during our stay, you see. So we'd like to pay it back somehow."
Grim smirks. "You can call us the Jamil Support Squad!"
Jamil looks to each of you in shock. "Of all the ridiculous," he clears his throat. "I mean, no. I couldn't possibly ask you to-"
"Oh. Ooh!" Kalim's eyes light up. "That's BRILLIANT! I've been thinking for ages about how I wish I could make Jamil's job easier!"
"Your compassion is a touching thing to behold, Kalim." Jade looks to Azul. "Would that Azul could take a page from your book."
Azul rolls his eyes. "You just had to get in a dig, didn't you, Jade? Anyway, allow us to handle matters here. You can kick back and take it easy, Jamil."
Kalim nods. "By all means, take them up on it, Jamil! This is great for you!"
Jade places his hands on Jamil's shoulders and forcefully shoved him out of the room. "Run along now, Jamil. Go back to your room and catch up on your sleep."
Jade closes the door on him. Jamil scratches his head in confusion. "What in the world is going on here? I can't just rest. I'd better at least see to breakfast."
Jamil walks into the lounge to see it's already bustling with activity. The dorm students are all running around with various tasks.
"Hey, minnow."
Jamil turns and sees Floyd giving out orders with you beside him.
"That ain't been seasoned yet, so don't run it out."
"S-sorry, sir!"
"The vegetables in the oven are done."
Floyd nods his approval. "Those are already dressed, so plate 'em and get 'em on the table."
The students scurry off. Jamil approaches you in disbelief. "Breakfast is already made? Did you do this, Floyd?"
Floyd turns around and grind. "G'morning, Sea Snake! Yup, me 'n the minnows took care of it." Floyd slings an arm around you. "Of course little Shrimpy is here helpn' too. Azul was goin' on about how much he wanted to help you."
Jamil looks around, completely baffled. "But... But I can't put our guests to work."
"We ain't exactly guests, remember?" Floyd nudges Jamil's shoulder. "We're trainin' buddies."
"But Kalim can only eat food prepared by me." Jamil folds his arms. "It could be poisoned."
Floyd lets out a laugh. "That's an even more unbalanced diet than what I eat. And I ain't poisoned anything here, by the way. If you don't trust me, test it yourself. If it gets Jamil's Poison-Free Seal of Approval, I'm sure Sea Otter will eat it right up."
You take a step forward. "I made some mini blueberry muffins. If you'd like, I can go get them so you can check them."
Jamil looks into your eyes and shakes his head. "No. I know I don't have to worry with you, but still..."
A couple students run to Jamil. "Vice Housewarden, could you taste-test these grilled vegetables?"
"I think this soup came out nicely. What do you think, sir?"
Jamil groans. "Fine. I'll test them all myself. Actually, are we prepared for our morning oasis trek? Usually, breakfast comes AFTER the march."
"Ah, about that."
Jamil whirls around and sees Azul walking into the lounge.
"As housewarden of Octavinelle, I've given my fellow housewarden Kalim an alternate proposal."
"You can't just do that!" Jamil narrows his eyes.
Azul grins, moving to stand beside you. "Rather than aerobic exercise like long-range walking. You'll see far greater gains in strength and stamina from proper indoor weight training. Scarabia's desert is a terribly hot place, you know. We wouldn't want to risk anyone getting heatstroke."
"In fact, there's a huge fountain in the courtyard." Floyd adds. "If you wanna build stamina, how about swimmin' in that? It'd be more fun, too."
"Agreed." Azul brings a hand to his chest. "I can tell you from experience that swimming is a far better way to burn fat than walking."
The Scarabia boys murmur to one another. "So... We don't have to go on those marches anymore?"
Azul smirks. "It's also worth mentioning that skipping breakfast can make you more easily fatigued and distracted. Not that overeating helps either, of course."
Kalim walks in with Grim and Jade. Kalim gives you a cheerful wave. "Good morning. Ooh, breakfast is done already?"
Grim runs over to the food. "Hot diggity! That looks delish!"
Jade smiles. "Floyd's in fine form today. It comes out considerably worse when he's not in the mood."
"And Sea Snake's already poison-tested your portions, Sea Otter." Floyd grins as he hands Kalim a bowl. "Go on and dig in! Bon appetit!
Kalim tries the soup and his eyes light up. "This is wonderful soup!"
"Ain't it? That's a Coral Sea staple. It's packed to the gills," Floyd chuckles. "with seafood."
Jamil folds his arms. His eyes narrowed as he watches the scene before him.
Azul clears his throat. "First, the key to ancient incantations is memorizing vocabulary."
"I'm aaawful at memorization." Kalim groans. "It puts me to sleep."
"Then I've got the perfect study method for you," Azul smiles. "recitation while walking."
Jade nods. "It's a good study method for people with shorter attention spans."
"Sounds like it'd be just as great for me!" Grim shouts from the table.
Kalim smiles broadly. "All right, let's all try it together, guys."