The Adventures of Al'adin and Chell
The Adventures of Al'adin and Chell
Once, long ago but not too long ago, there lived a young woman named Chell. She was of Hispanic descent; darkly tanned skin, large eyes the color of the ocean, and hair that was as firey as a Hawaiian sunset. She lived with her three roommates-- Marj, the lanky blonde who rarely came out of her shell, Loretta, the chatty platinum-haired fashion queen, and the one who never told anyone her name for some reason (but everyone suspected that it was Jessica).
Chell didn't tell anyone when her mother died. After all, her mother had been old, fat, and grey-haired, and it was probably time for her to go. Nevertheless, it was heartbreaking for Chell and she refrained from going to any activities for a week. They'd only been given five hours' notice from "Your mother is in bad shape" to her death. Chell didn't want to talk about it, but her roommates were persistent. They nagged and pleaded until it came out, but Chell didn't mind too much. After she'd broken the news and shown the photographs, she stood up suddenly. "Time to go out for a night on the town, girls," she announced.
Things did not happen as quickly as Chell had wanted them to. Marj, who really was rather dumpy-looking (but mostly because she was the shape and size of a man), insisted on wearing flip-flops for their night out, which simply would not do. "Surely you must have some cute shoes. We wouldn't want the cute boys to ignore us this evening," Chell pleaded.
"For your information, it's extremely difficult for me to find shoes that fit," Marj said grumpily, trying to fit into a pair of slightly-too-small platform sandals.
"Ugh! Those won't do at all!" Loretta shrieked, yanking the shoes away from Marj. "We're going to be late unless you find SOMETHING to wear." Glancing around at Marj's closet, she finally came up with the solution. "Here," she said, thrusting a yellow tank top toward her roommate. "Wear this and maybe people will ignore the shoes."
Crisis averted, the girls made their way down the rickety old stairs of their beach townhouse. The place must have been built centuries ago, and it barely had reliable plumbing. There was a crude TV set in the dark corner of the living room, which got exactly three and a half channels on a good day and exactly none on a windy day. The beach house was wonderous, though, because the rent was cheap and the view was magnificent.
Chell had been minding her own buisness when she found herself suddenly swept up in some sort of trap. "Help!" she called, but her roommates had vanished. She was picked up by the arms by some burly men wearing nothing but what looked like baggy blue skirts. They all had dark hair and thick eyebrows, and many had large gold hoops thrust into their earlobes. All of them carried swords, which were long, thick, and hooked at the end so as to do the most damage.
The men deposited her on the lowest stair of a large ivory staircase jutting out of the desert sand like a monolith. Where had the staircase come from? Chell realized that she could no longer see her beloved townhouse, and surrounding her was an oasis with a palace in the middle!
The palace was probably connected to the stairs, but Chell couldn't see how. There were no roofs or ceilings; the entire place opened up to the piercingly blue sky like a flower petal to the sun. Palm trees were everywhere, and terra cotta decorations-- urns and vases, sculpures, masks on the walls surrounding the many staircases. Where had the ocean gone?
Chell figured she should be scared, but somehow, she wasn't. It suddenly came to her why: her power. Yes, of course, Chell was the owner of a strange and wonderful power that enabled her not only to decieve practically anyone, but to do a great deal of damage to whomever she liked. Her roommates didn't know of this power, and it was probably best that it stayed that way.
She was crouched, facedown, on the ivory stair. Glancing up, she saw some more burly men (this time, wearing loose aqua pants with the swords and jewelry and beards) reaching out to grab her. She let herself be spun around by each of them and then practically thrown to the next one, over and over. As she travelled unwillingly up the staircase, the color of the mens' pants became chartreuse, and finally pink. Pink must be a higher rank of guard, Chell mused. Finally, she was at the top of the staircase. A young man with white pantaloons glared at her.
"You," he began, then frowned and began again. "You are not Asian. You are an imposter. And for this, you shall die!"
Thinking quickly, Chell turned her head away from the young man, tied up her hair, and concentrated. Part of her power was shapeshifting, and when she looked back at the man, her eyes were almond-shaped and her hair, now black, was pulled up into a bun to frame her now-pale skin. "I have no idea what you mean, sir," she said softly, smiling. "Both of my parents were full-blood Chinese. Please show mercy on me."
The young man blinked. "M-my apologies," he stammered. Then he cleared his throat. "You shall be dismissed, by me personally. Please wait at the bottom of the ramp." Ramp? What ramp? Chell found herself pushed onto a long ivory slide, and tumbled out at the end a complete mess. Her clothes were torn and her change of ethnicity had rubbed off somehow, leaving her eyes almond-shaped but her hair a deep brown. Chucking her outer layers, Chell dusted herself off, wearing only her pink and turquoise bra and a matching sarong.
She turned around when she heard someone clear his throat. "I'm sorry," the young man in the white pantaloons (who had somehow appeared unscathed next to her) said. He smiled. "My name is Al'adin. I am the prince of this palace."
Chell smiled. He didn't know of her power. "Pleased to meet you. Meghan," she introduced herself, giving a fake name.
Al'adin nodded. "Meghan, can I tell you a secret?"
Chell smiled warmly. "Of course you can, Prince."
"Well," Al'adin said, "there's actually two secrets. First... you are the most beautiful woman I've ever laid eyes on."
Chell blushed in spite of herself. Something was odd about this man, but she tried to push it out of her mind. Instead, she focused on checking him out. He was actually quite attractive-- the same dark skin and thick black hair as all the other men, but young and strong with black glittering eyes and a pearly white smile.
"And the second..." Al'adin stepped closer to her. "I'm glad you are Chinese, because if you'd been Hispanic, I would have had to kill you."
Chell tried not to show her chagrin. "Why would that be?" she asked in a hushed voice.
Al'adin's black eyes seemed to sparkle less. "There is a woman. An Hispanic woman. I hear she is called the Princess Chell, and she commands a power that can kill any man, instantly. It is of great risk to me, since I am the Prince of this land."
Chell coughed. "What, uh, power? You say?" she stammered.
"A deadly power," Al'adin whispered, drawing himself closer to her. "And I am the only one who can sense when it is being used, but not with enough certainty to find her and destroy her. And..." his eyes lowered. "I felt it earlier, as they brought you in, so I did not want the Princess to be you. I have this inexplicable attraction to you, Meghan, and I do not wish to kill you."
The thing was, Chell pondered, that she found him inexplicably attractive as well. The problem being, of course, that she herself was Princess Chell, and she suddenly remembered something about a prophecy. Her mother had said to her, before she'd died, "The Ivory Prince will bring trouble. Do not reveal yourself."
"You can feel this power?" Chell asked Al'adin.
"Yes, but no," Al'adin sighed. "I can sense when it is being used, but the strength of the, shall we say, signal is not strong enough for me to tell where in the land the Princess is using it. She uses it quite frequently, as I understand, because I can feel it every few days or so... but I cannot pinpoint her location."
Chell ached to tell this man who she really was, but she knew that if she did, she would die instantly. She found she loved Al'adin, really, truly loved him, and needed a way to get him inside, somewhere safe, where they could talk alone.
"Follow me!" she hissed, grabbing a thin surfboard off the wall next to her. The board, while appearing like a surfboard to the untrained eye, was really an advanced hoverboard, and she hopped on and surfed over the sand dunes to find her summer vacation shack. It, too, had no ceilings, but the walls were made of ebony marble and sunk in with each layer into the ground, to conserve cool air. Looking behind her, she noticed that Al'adin had found a hoverboard as well, and the two of them raced across the endless sand to find shelter.
Once, long ago but not too long ago, there lived a young woman named Chell. She was of Hispanic descent; darkly tanned skin, large eyes the color of the ocean, and hair that was as firey as a Hawaiian sunset. She lived with her three roommates-- Marj, the lanky blonde who rarely came out of her shell, Loretta, the chatty platinum-haired fashion queen, and the one who never told anyone her name for some reason (but everyone suspected that it was Jessica).
Chell didn't tell anyone when her mother died. After all, her mother had been old, fat, and grey-haired, and it was probably time for her to go. Nevertheless, it was heartbreaking for Chell and she refrained from going to any activities for a week. They'd only been given five hours' notice from "Your mother is in bad shape" to her death. Chell didn't want to talk about it, but her roommates were persistent. They nagged and pleaded until it came out, but Chell didn't mind too much. After she'd broken the news and shown the photographs, she stood up suddenly. "Time to go out for a night on the town, girls," she announced.
Things did not happen as quickly as Chell had wanted them to. Marj, who really was rather dumpy-looking (but mostly because she was the shape and size of a man), insisted on wearing flip-flops for their night out, which simply would not do. "Surely you must have some cute shoes. We wouldn't want the cute boys to ignore us this evening," Chell pleaded.
"For your information, it's extremely difficult for me to find shoes that fit," Marj said grumpily, trying to fit into a pair of slightly-too-small platform sandals.
"Ugh! Those won't do at all!" Loretta shrieked, yanking the shoes away from Marj. "We're going to be late unless you find SOMETHING to wear." Glancing around at Marj's closet, she finally came up with the solution. "Here," she said, thrusting a yellow tank top toward her roommate. "Wear this and maybe people will ignore the shoes."
Crisis averted, the girls made their way down the rickety old stairs of their beach townhouse. The place must have been built centuries ago, and it barely had reliable plumbing. There was a crude TV set in the dark corner of the living room, which got exactly three and a half channels on a good day and exactly none on a windy day. The beach house was wonderous, though, because the rent was cheap and the view was magnificent.
Chell had been minding her own buisness when she found herself suddenly swept up in some sort of trap. "Help!" she called, but her roommates had vanished. She was picked up by the arms by some burly men wearing nothing but what looked like baggy blue skirts. They all had dark hair and thick eyebrows, and many had large gold hoops thrust into their earlobes. All of them carried swords, which were long, thick, and hooked at the end so as to do the most damage.
The men deposited her on the lowest stair of a large ivory staircase jutting out of the desert sand like a monolith. Where had the staircase come from? Chell realized that she could no longer see her beloved townhouse, and surrounding her was an oasis with a palace in the middle!
The palace was probably connected to the stairs, but Chell couldn't see how. There were no roofs or ceilings; the entire place opened up to the piercingly blue sky like a flower petal to the sun. Palm trees were everywhere, and terra cotta decorations-- urns and vases, sculpures, masks on the walls surrounding the many staircases. Where had the ocean gone?
Chell figured she should be scared, but somehow, she wasn't. It suddenly came to her why: her power. Yes, of course, Chell was the owner of a strange and wonderful power that enabled her not only to decieve practically anyone, but to do a great deal of damage to whomever she liked. Her roommates didn't know of this power, and it was probably best that it stayed that way.
She was crouched, facedown, on the ivory stair. Glancing up, she saw some more burly men (this time, wearing loose aqua pants with the swords and jewelry and beards) reaching out to grab her. She let herself be spun around by each of them and then practically thrown to the next one, over and over. As she travelled unwillingly up the staircase, the color of the mens' pants became chartreuse, and finally pink. Pink must be a higher rank of guard, Chell mused. Finally, she was at the top of the staircase. A young man with white pantaloons glared at her.
"You," he began, then frowned and began again. "You are not Asian. You are an imposter. And for this, you shall die!"
Thinking quickly, Chell turned her head away from the young man, tied up her hair, and concentrated. Part of her power was shapeshifting, and when she looked back at the man, her eyes were almond-shaped and her hair, now black, was pulled up into a bun to frame her now-pale skin. "I have no idea what you mean, sir," she said softly, smiling. "Both of my parents were full-blood Chinese. Please show mercy on me."
The young man blinked. "M-my apologies," he stammered. Then he cleared his throat. "You shall be dismissed, by me personally. Please wait at the bottom of the ramp." Ramp? What ramp? Chell found herself pushed onto a long ivory slide, and tumbled out at the end a complete mess. Her clothes were torn and her change of ethnicity had rubbed off somehow, leaving her eyes almond-shaped but her hair a deep brown. Chucking her outer layers, Chell dusted herself off, wearing only her pink and turquoise bra and a matching sarong.
She turned around when she heard someone clear his throat. "I'm sorry," the young man in the white pantaloons (who had somehow appeared unscathed next to her) said. He smiled. "My name is Al'adin. I am the prince of this palace."
Chell smiled. He didn't know of her power. "Pleased to meet you. Meghan," she introduced herself, giving a fake name.
Al'adin nodded. "Meghan, can I tell you a secret?"
Chell smiled warmly. "Of course you can, Prince."
"Well," Al'adin said, "there's actually two secrets. First... you are the most beautiful woman I've ever laid eyes on."
Chell blushed in spite of herself. Something was odd about this man, but she tried to push it out of her mind. Instead, she focused on checking him out. He was actually quite attractive-- the same dark skin and thick black hair as all the other men, but young and strong with black glittering eyes and a pearly white smile.
"And the second..." Al'adin stepped closer to her. "I'm glad you are Chinese, because if you'd been Hispanic, I would have had to kill you."
Chell tried not to show her chagrin. "Why would that be?" she asked in a hushed voice.
Al'adin's black eyes seemed to sparkle less. "There is a woman. An Hispanic woman. I hear she is called the Princess Chell, and she commands a power that can kill any man, instantly. It is of great risk to me, since I am the Prince of this land."
Chell coughed. "What, uh, power? You say?" she stammered.
"A deadly power," Al'adin whispered, drawing himself closer to her. "And I am the only one who can sense when it is being used, but not with enough certainty to find her and destroy her. And..." his eyes lowered. "I felt it earlier, as they brought you in, so I did not want the Princess to be you. I have this inexplicable attraction to you, Meghan, and I do not wish to kill you."
The thing was, Chell pondered, that she found him inexplicably attractive as well. The problem being, of course, that she herself was Princess Chell, and she suddenly remembered something about a prophecy. Her mother had said to her, before she'd died, "The Ivory Prince will bring trouble. Do not reveal yourself."
"You can feel this power?" Chell asked Al'adin.
"Yes, but no," Al'adin sighed. "I can sense when it is being used, but the strength of the, shall we say, signal is not strong enough for me to tell where in the land the Princess is using it. She uses it quite frequently, as I understand, because I can feel it every few days or so... but I cannot pinpoint her location."
Chell ached to tell this man who she really was, but she knew that if she did, she would die instantly. She found she loved Al'adin, really, truly loved him, and needed a way to get him inside, somewhere safe, where they could talk alone.
"Follow me!" she hissed, grabbing a thin surfboard off the wall next to her. The board, while appearing like a surfboard to the untrained eye, was really an advanced hoverboard, and she hopped on and surfed over the sand dunes to find her summer vacation shack. It, too, had no ceilings, but the walls were made of ebony marble and sunk in with each layer into the ground, to conserve cool air. Looking behind her, she noticed that Al'adin had found a hoverboard as well, and the two of them raced across the endless sand to find shelter.