Chapter 28: Not Hard But Smart

Later in the night, Birar and the others in the vacant room are now asleep for the night. And like the times before, Briar begins to dream. In her dream, Briar opens her eyes and finds herself in a scenery where the clouds are dark.

Briar looks up and says, "The skies look so dark and ominous... What's going on?"

In one scene, it shows Jafar having his foot on a blue man with pointed ears.

Then the scene quickly changes to the giant sized version of the blue man reaching towards the palace.

Just then, Prince Ali, who's real name is Aladdin, cries out, "Genie, stop!"

But the grown man, Genie says, "Sorry, kid. I've got a new master now."

Then the scene quickly changes to where Jafar and his parrot, Iago are.

Iago announces, "Kneel and pay tribute to the great sorcerer Jafar!"

"Now, where were we? As yes - abject humiliation!" Jafar says.

And using his staff, he uses his new powers to take control of the sultan and the princess, forcing them to bow before him.

Then the scenes change again, Jafar separates Aladdin and Princess Jasmine, but Aladdin's outfit has changed.

Jafar says, "He is no prince, and that's a face. Now that he's unmasked, do you recognize your prince? It's Aladdin! His punishment! Eternal banishment... from this life!"

Then uses his scepter to send Aladdin inside one of the towers of the palace and sends it flying.

Jafar calls out, "Farewell, 'Prince Ali!'"

Suddenly, Briar wakes up in shock as he gasps for air. She is stunned by what she has witnessed. The Genie, Jafar relieving Prince Ali's real identity, and how Jafar banishes him to who knows where.

One thing comes to her mind, "He made himself the ruler?"

Briar decides to lie down and get to sleep for the night.

The next day, Jade's voice appears, "Briar, Grim. It's time to wake up."

Soon, Briar wakes up from her sleep.

Grim slowly begins waking up as well, "Myah... Are we marchin' to the oasis?"

But Azul says, "No, we're waking up early precisely to avoid that. Come along, now."

"How are you going to do that?" Briar asks.

"You'll see," Azul answers.

Sometime later, the group arrives at Kalim's bedroom.

"Good morning, Kalim," Jade says.

"Mm... Izzat you, Jamil? Morning..." Kalim answers the door, feeling tired.

But Jade clarifies, "No, it's Jade. Though our names do sound a bit similar. Heh."

"Wait... What?" Kalim says.

He wakes up from his sleep to see the group, "What are you all doing here?"

"I've brought some tea to wake you up and a change of clothes. Now rise and come with me, if you please," Jade says.

Kalim becomes confused and asks, "Huh? Wha? What's going on? Where's Jamil?"

"Don't worry. We're perfectly capable of helping you get dressed without him," Azul says.

Soon, they hear knocking on the door, and the door opens.

Jamil enters the room, "Kalim, it's time to...what?!" But becomes shocked to see everyone in the room, Azul? Jade? Grim...and Briar?! What are you doing in Kalim's room?!"

"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," Azul says.

"What?!" Jamil says, stunned.

After our chat last night, I realized something. Who's the busiest guy in this dorm? It's you, Jamil!" Azul says.

Then Jade says, "We've been taking advantage of Scarabia's hospitality during our stay, you see. So we'd like to pay it back somehow."

"You can call us the Jamil Support Squad!" Grim says.

"You can count on us to help you, Jamil," Tanzanite says.

"Yeah," Jasper says.

"O-of all the ridiculous..." Jamil says, irritated.

But then says, "I mean, no, I couldn't possibly ask you to–"

However, Kalim is fully supported by the idea, "Oh... Ooh... OOOH! 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. Would that Azul could take a page from your book," Jade says.

Azul laughs and says, "Ha ha ha. 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."

"By all means, take them up on it, Jamil! This is great for you!" Kalim happily says.

"Run along now, Jamil. Go back to your room and catch up on your sleep," Jade says, and pushes Jamil out of the room.

Then Jade closes the door.

Dumbfounded, Jamil wonders, "What in the world is going on here? I can't just rest. I'd better at least see to breakfast..."

In the Scarabia Lounge, things are pretty busy with breakfast that is just close to being done. Floyd is with the Scarabia student to make sure breakfast is completed.

Just then, Floyd says, Hey, minnow. That ain't been seasoned yet, so don't run it out.

"S-sorry, sir!" A Scarabia student apologizes

A second student says, "The vegetables in the oven are done."

"Those are already dressed, so plate 'em and get 'em on the table," Floyd says.

Just then, Jamil walks in and is very surprised, "B-breakfast is already made?! Did you do this, Floyd?"

Floyd turns to see Jamil and says with a smile, "G'morning, Sea Snake! Yup, me 'n the minnows took care of it. Azul was goin' on about how much he wanted to help you."

"But... But I can't put our guests to work," Jamil says.

But Floyd says, "We ain't exactly guests, remember? We're trainin' buddies."

"But Kalim can only eat food prepared by me. It could be poisoned," Jamil quickly says.

Floyd laughs in remark, "Ha! 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 have a point, but still..." Jamil says.

Then a Scarabia student walks over to Jamil and asks, "Vice Housewarden, could you taste-test these grilled vegetables?"

A second Scarabia student walks over and asks, "I think this soup came out nicely. What do you think, sir?"

"Rgh... Fine. I'll test them all myself," Jamil says, frustrated.

But then asks, "Actually, are we prepared for our morning oasis trek? Usually, breakfast comes AFTER the march."

Then Azul walks over and says, "Ah, about that. As housewarden of Octavinelle... I've given my fellow housewarden Kalim an alternate proposal.

Jamil is shocked to hear that, "Wh... What?! You can't just do that!"

Azul continues, "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.

Then Floyd says, "In fact, there's a huge fountain in the courtyard. If you wanna build stamina, how about swimmin' in that? It'd be more fun, too."

"Agreed. I can tell you from experience that swimming is a far better way to burn fat than walking," Azul says.

"So... We don't have to go on those marches anymore?" A Scarabia student asks, surprised.

The second student cheers, "We're safe, Vice Housewarden!"

"It's also worth mentioning that skipping breakfast can make you more easily fatigued and distracted. Not that overeating helps either, of course," Azul says.

Kalim walks in with Briar and the others.

Kalim happily says, "Good morning. Ooh, breakfast is done already?"

"Hot diggity! That looks delish!" Grim cheers, looking at the food.

"Floyd's in fine form today. It comes out considerably worse when he's not in the mood..." Jade says.

Then Floyd adds, "And Sea Snake's already poison-tested your portions, Sea Otter. Go on and dig in!"

Everyone cheers, "Bon appetit!"

Soon, everyone walks over and begins to have their breakfast.

Kalim comes to see the soup, "Ooh, this is wonderful soup!"

"Ain't it? That's a Coral Sea staple. It's packed to the gills (heh) with seafood," Floyd says.

"Really? It smells really good," Briar says.

Everyone grabs some food and begins to eat their breakfast. Everyone in the dorm seems to be enjoying it. Jamil however, remains silent.

Some time later, after breakfast.

Azul says to Kalim, "First, the key to ancient incantations is memorizing vocabulary."

"I'm aaawful at memorization. It puts me to sleep," Kalim says.

"Then I've got the perfect study method for you: recitation while walking," Azul says.

"It's a good study method for people with shorter attention spans," Jade says.

"Sounds like it'd be just as great for me!" Grim says.

"Especially since you fall asleep during class," Jasper replies.

Then Kalim says, "All right, let's all try it together, guys."

"Yes, sir!" The Scarabia Students reply.

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