Stone Cold Story by Jill D. Weber Main Characters copyrighted by Walt Disney Corp. The Gorgon and other minor characters are mine There were snakes in her hair... the snakes *were* her hair... and they were driving her mad. Their constant hissing pounded on her ears, their emotions pounded on her mind, and their shifting weights pounded on her scalp. They were only still and silent when they were digesting... or when one of THEM came and fed the hunger that had nothing to do with their bellies. Another came. Xola could feel his greed through the snakes' supernatural senses as soon as he set foot on her mountain. Her snakes hissed hungrily but she smiled. Anything that distracted the snakes... that distracted her *from* the snakes, was welcome. The brawny bandit moved guardedly through the maze-like caverns. T'zumn paused once or twice to make sure he had his equipment. The map that he'd taken from his last victim was no longer needed. His sword was loose in its scabbard and came easily to his hand. His former girlfriend's silver backed mirror was likewise ready to hand. T'zumn touched it and snarled as he thought of how Harika had objected to his taking it. "But it's the only nice thing that I have! Why don't you buy your own mirror!" The beating he'd given her for her disrespect would ensure that she wouldn't want to look in a mirror for a long time. In revenge, T'zumn had sold everything Harika owned except for what she was wearing. Then he kicked her out. He was tired of her anyway. The little money she made as a seamstress wasn't enough to support him in the style to which he intended to become accustomed. T'zumn soon found what he was looking for. The cavern walls were hidden by fine silk hangings. The floor was hidden under a multitude of brilliantly hued rugs, which in turn were littered with piles of gold and silver. There were crowds of chests and bags and boxes and casks filled with gleaming ingots and glittering jewels. Scattered about was furniture of every size and shape, all elaborately carved and inlaid. Every flat surface groaned under masses of intricately wrought tableware, candlesticks and knickknacks. Amidst the clutter of riches stood the statues. There were dozens of statues, in various poses of aggression and fear. T'zumn smiled when he saw them. *They* had failed. *He* would not! With this much treasure he never have to work for another robber baron again. *He*, T'zumn , would be the greatest robber baron of them all. He would raise an army. He'd subjugate the Seven Deserts and make himself emperor. He would crush all who stood in his way, and settle scores with anyone who had ever thwarted him. Instead of having simpering little seamstresses, he would have Queens and Princesses in his harem! And all he had to do to win all that was to kill a monster. Too easy. There was a laugh behind him. "Too easy, indeed," mocked a sultry voice. T'zumn started to turn, then stopped himself, and pulled out the mirror he had brought for this purpose. "So, you can read my mind, monster?" "Clearly, man," the sultry voice mocked. "And you haven't had an original thought yet." T'zumn could see her reflection now, gliding towards him from the gloom. She was human from the waist up, snake from the waist down. Her snakey hair writhed and hissed. Her face was veiled, as if in modesty, but her mocking voice proved the lie of that posture. "Come a little closer, and I'll show you how original I can be, witch" he snarled. "What? With that little mirror?" the gorgon laughed. "You think *that* hasn't been tried before?" She raised her veil and met his gaze in the reflection. Her eyes were cool and grey, like marble. T'zumn felt his muscles lock. The gorgon laughed again. "Fool, it only works if the reflection is blurry. Otherwise, you *can* see my eyes clearly..." T'zumn couldn't move his head, or even his eyes. All he could do was stare at the mirrored gaze and his hand. The gaze became colder and his hand began to... change... "You wanted luxury, man," she laughed, her voice growing fainter as his ears transmuted. "Now you shall dwell among riches for eternity." *** It was cold and the small stash of money that Harika had managed to hide from him was soon gone. She had made her way to Agrabah, having heard that the Sultan there was kindly and generous to those in need. Rumor proved truth for once, she told him about her plight, and of her former boyfriend's plan to kill the medusa and plunder her treasure. Frankly, she hoped the medusa won, but T'zumn was a tough and crafty fighter. The Sultan was appalled that such a creature could be so close to the trade route he hoped to open between Agrabah and the Greek city states. *Somebody* would have to investigate. *** This night was cold and the snakes were uncomfortable. The majority spent their time trying to put a layer of other snakes between them and the night air. The minority distained such futile efforts, electing instead to try to stuff themselves down Xola's cleavage. Where were greedy opportunists when you needed them? *** "Jasmine is going to kill me," muttered Aladdin. He held the blue lamp higher. It's cool, blue light revealed nothing but rock and spider webs. The lamp's warm voice replied: "Nah, she won't kill you. Put you in traction, maybe..." "Thanks, Genie, you're such a comfort," Aladdin snorted. He paused to shift his climbing rope from his right shoulder to his left one, then to adjust the brass lamp to a more comfortable position in his sash. He wished the Magic Carpet was with them, but Carpet had gone with Jasmine. If they had waited, Jasmine would have tried to stop them. Or worse, she would have insisted on coming with them. Heroes were a pain, the young hero decided (admitting to himself that Jasmine had cause to make the same complaint). "Hey, you're the one who volunteered to investigate the report that there was a medusa in this area. Not me." Aladdin shrugged, and shivered in spite of his red, fleece-lined parka. "I'm sorry, but I had to check out Harika's story. She was certain that her ex-boyfriend was going to try to kill the medusa. And even if he chickened out, the medusa will be in danger if this trade route opens. Who knows what sort of creeps might try to steal her trove?" The lamp blinked. "Um, Al, I don't know how to tell you this, but medusas generally don't need protecting. They're DANGEROUS!! People need protecting from THEM!" Aladdin's grin flashed in the genie-light. "I know. That's why I said that Jasmine is going to kill me. However, I think that we should try to make a treaty with the medusa. It will be a lot better all around if she doesn't attack the caravans, and the caravans don't attack her." They rounded a corner and stopped. There were torches lining the walls, so Genie *poofed* into his two legged form. This section of the cavern was *NOT* dank and barren! "Whoa! I haven't seen so much pelf in one place since the Cave of Wonders went ballistic!" Genie said. He waved his hands and both he and Aladdin were wearing wrap around sunglasses. "Wow," Aladdin said, pulling down the glasses to take a better look. "Well, the part about the treasure was right, but where's the medusa?" Then he saw the statues. "Are those statues... alive?" Aladdin whispered. "Well... sort of," Genie said unhappily. "Whoa, can you break the spell?" absently, Aladdin pushed the glasses back up his nose. "I don't think so," Genie said uneasily. "You know that mixing magics is dangerous. I have a suspicion that in this case it's even more dangerous than usual." "Come on then, maybe we can talk the medusa into changing them back if we assure her that we won't let them hurt her." "Yeah, right, but who's going to keep the medusa from hurting us?" Genie wondered. *** The snakes were agitated. They were standing on end, like so many reptilian question marks and exclamation points, the better to feel the disquieting emanations coming from the newcomers. Xola could feel them too. She could not read one of the newcomers at all, which was disturbing. The other was more than disturbing. It was... concerned? For HER? Now that was a twist. Xola wasn't sure that she liked the idea of somebody being concerned for her. It reminded her of when she was human. The contrast between then and now was so painful, she preferred to forget that she had not been born this way. The snakes definitely didn't like it, though why somebody's concern would upset them was beyond Xola. Perhaps they didn't like not being able to read one of them. "Hello? Is anybody home? Can we talk?" a youthful male voice hailed from the other room. Xola cocked her head. This was *definitely* not in the monster manual. She decided to tackle the unknown head on. She glided through the passageway to the treasure room. "I am home, much to your regret," she hissed. "No ma'am," the youthful voice denied. She saw him standing in the middle of the treasure room and still couldn't make head nor tails out of him. He wore a decent coat over ragged pants. He was surrounded by riches, and was not gaping at it. He held a mirror, yet he did not try to view her through it. Instead, he kept his eyes respectfully downcast. He did not appear to be armed with anything other than the mirror, but where was the other intruder? "Why are you here?" she demanded as the snakes jiggled and peered in every corner of the room for the spare intruder that they knew was close by. She was puzzled by a strange device the intruder was wearing around his eyes. It looked like dark glass or smoky topaz had been wrapped around his face to make a mask. Could it be some sort of magical protection against her gaze? "I want to make a treaty with you," was the youth's shocking answer to her question. "A... treaty?" Xola gasped. All the snake heads snapped in the intruder's direction. Xola glided closer, swaying seductively. The youthful intruder held his ground and watched her serpentine body approach without flinching. "What do you mean, treaty?" Xola demanded. "I would like you to agree to not attack the trade caravans that we hope will be coming along this route," the youth said. "And what would I get in return?" Xola asked haughtily. "Well... I don't have all the details worked out," the youthful intruder admitted. "But I'm sure we can figure out some way of keeping thieves from trying to steal your treasure." `Stop the intruders?' thought Xola. `Stop the only distraction these snakes have?' "NO!" she cried. She grasped the youthful intruder by the chin and forced it up until she could see her reflection in the dark, glassy material that hid his eyes. She could see her eyes get that steely look they acquired when she focused her power. The youthful intruder stiffened, then collapsed. Automatically, the gorgon caught the limp human in her arms and lowered him to the floor. Xola was shocked. `LIMP?' She squeezed his arm, it was still flesh. She looked left and right and met the gaze of equally bewildered snakes. "Why didn't he turn to stone? Have my powers diminished? And where is the other one?" Absently, she picked up the youthful intruder's mirror and glanced into it to see if she looked different. A human, not her reflection, looked back at her. She and her snakes did a double take as they realized that this WAS Xola's reflection, her OLD reflection, the one with hair instead of snakes. The gorgon stared at the reflection of her human self for a few shocked minutes. Then her reflection changed, growing fangs and snakey hair. One of the snakes flashed out of the mirror and bit her hand. There was only one thing Xola could do, and she did it. She fainted. "Whoa, that worked better than I expected it would," Genie said, morphing back into himself. The snakes writhed and hissed at him. "Hey, I don't say things about YOUR mothers," Genie complained. He stepped over to the recumbent Aladdin. "Al? Buddy?" Aladdin rolled onto his back, with one hand over his eyes. "I'm okay," he said. "What about the medusa?" "I injected her with a little sleepy-bye potion," Genie said. "But I think she fainted before it took affect." Aladdin sat up and cautiously removed his sun glasses. "Is she sedated or not?" he asked. He pulled a silk scarf from his pocket and moved to blindfold the medusa. Genie intercepted him. "Better let me, she's have a really bad hair day." He created some pink armor, then he moved forward to blindfolded the medusa, ignoring the snakes. When the snakes bit at him, they got a mouthful of pink. Much to Aladdin's bemusement, soon huge pink bubbles were coming out of the snakes mouths. "Care for some bubble gum?" Genie asked. *** Xola woke up some time later with a nasty headache. She could feel the heat from the torches, but she couldn't see anything. She felt panicky for a moment until she realized that her blindness was due to a scarf tied around her eyes. There was another scarf tied around her hands. It wouldn't take her long to get free, but she could sense her captors' presence through her snakes. One of them coughed to get her attention. "Well?" the gorgon demanded. "What are you waiting for?" "Actually, we're waiting for you to wake up," a cheerful voice said. This must be the second intruder. "Why, so I could feel it when you cut my head off?" Xola demanded sourly. She still couldn't sense any weapons on them, much to her puzzlement. "I told you, we're not here to hurt you, we are here to make a treaty with you," the youthful intruder spoke this time. "And you always establish diplomatic ties by binding your host?" Xola said sarcastically. "I find it difficult to do anything when I'm a statue," the youthful intruder said calmly. "By the way, my name is Aladdin, this is Genie. We're representing the Sultan of Agrabah." "A *genie*?" asked Xola. "As in, lives in a lamp, grants three wishes, that sort of genie?" "That's what I am," the cheerful intruder admitted... well... cheerfully. "But I'm a free genie now, I don't do wishes." "Figures,"grunted Xola. There was a long pause, then she figured out what they were waiting for. "My name is Xola," she grumped. "We'll untie you if promise to behave," Aladdin said. Xola sighed. "Very well, I won't attack you," she said sourly. The scarf around her wrists disappeared as if by magic. Well, considering one of the intruders was a genie, it probably was magic. "Can you control the eye thing?" the genie asked. "I hate you leave you blindfolded, but, hey, Jazz would kill me if I brought back a garden statue instead of a fiance. Women are touchy that way." "Really? I can't imagine why," Xola said sourly. "Statues are so much easier to deal with." There was no answer to her sally. "Very well," she sighed. "I only turn people into stone when I look into their eyes." The scarf around her eyes disappeared, too. She found herself looking at a big, blue genie and a short, dark human. Aladdin's eyes were uncovered and he was still politely looking at the floor. However, he was facing her, which she thought was brave of him. Of course, her gaze hadn't hurt him before, so maybe he knew something that she didn't. "Now about that treaty," Aladdin said. "We would like you to agree to not attack any caravans going past your territory. We would also like you to change these people back into flesh and blood." "I can't, I don't know how," Xola admitted. "And I don't want you to stop the intruders." "You like turning people into stone?" Aladdin asked, as if the idea hadn't occurred to him. "It's a gorgon thing, besides, they entertain the snakes," Xola said, somewhat defensively. Actually, the snakes got their powers from the intruders' greed and she got her powers from the snakes, but she didn't say so. She wondered if her magic didn't work against Aladdin because of his lack of greed. "I'm afraid we can't let you keep turning people into stone," Aladdin said apologetically. Xola sighed. "I have no intention of stopping. I don't see why you're worried about these creeps, anyway. They're all criminal types." Aladdin shook his head. "It's wrong. Besides, if you keep it up, sooner or later some hero type will come along to kill you." The genie coughed before this conversation could go any farther. "We may be able to find a way to change you back into a human," the genie said diffidently. "That should solve everything." She could be human again? The thought made her tingle all over. The snakes wailed and wrapped themselves around her shoulders like a serpentine cloak. Xola shook her head and squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. Then she looked at the genie. "What would happen to the snakes if you turned me into a human?" she asked. The Genie hesitated. "I'm not sure," he said. "I'm not even sure that there's a way to make you human again, but Al and I will start looking. We have lots of magic at our disposal." The snakes were giving her little serpentine kisses and hissing pathetically in her ear. Xola sighed. "No, I can't let you hurt my snakes. I'll just take my chances as I am." She looked at Aladdin. "I'm sorry, Aladdin, but I can't agree to your terms. I will not go out of my way to attack people, but anyone who comes into my lair is fair game, as far as I'm concerned." "Suppose we have a way to turn you human that wouldn't kill the snakes?" Aladdin offered. "I don't know," Xola said. "I'd have to think about it, but you'll have to show me the cure, first. Until then, things stay as they are." "I see," Aladdin said in disappointment. "We'll still try to prevent people from coming. We also intend to find a way to turn these people back into people." Xola nodded. "Fair enough," she said. "I'll allow people to come and go as long as their sole purpose is to restore the statues into human beings, not that they're very good human beings. Now, if you'll please leave? You're upsetting my snakes." Aladdin and Genie made their way out of the medusa's lair. "Well, it could have gone worse," Aladdin sighed. "That wasn't exactly the treaty that I wanted, but she won't attack the caravans, so I guess that's close enough." "Could have gone worse!?" Genie choked. "I almost had a heart attack when she gave you the hairy eyeball! How come you weren't turned to stone when she looked you in the eye?" Aladdin gave him a sideways look as he replied: "She didn't. I had my eyes closed."