If Witches Were Horses, Part 2
	By Jill Weber
	Dedicated to the Entire Aladdin Mailing List,
	Especially Sedeara
	
	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 interuption. In fact, he welcomed the chance 
to set aside his bean counting and recieve an emissary or settle a 
dispute or stop for a meal.
	"Yes, Fazal?" He asked Rasoul's faithful sidekick. 
	"Pardon the interuption, 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, moulting 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..." 
	"Speicalized," 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 forseen 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 
manical 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 dispair. The television disappeared. 
"I don't know how 'Bobby-Baby' puts up with all these interuptions," 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 safetly.
	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 reguarded 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 fruitseller's eyes 
widened, then a michievous 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 motar 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 probabaly 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 elixer? 
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 suspicously.
	"It was just something to get rid of the chalk dust," Sadria 
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 parrrot 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. "Oo, 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 Maske 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 virdigris 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