"I planned on giving you a few gifts, but I'll hold onto them first until I'm certain that they won't ruin you," Aladdin responded, not commenting on the thieves' mental state, as it mattered not to him.
Cassim grabbed Aladdin's shoulders with both hands and said, "Hold on! What gift?"
"Nothing much... just immortality and..." Aladdin said, but Cassim abruptly collapsed to his knees before he could finish.
"My son... don't tell me that you hate your father that much that you'd rather see him reach old age before giving him the secret of immortality," Cassim cried out.
"Would you rather introduce this youthful and handsome face to your wife or a wrinkled bag of bones?"
Aladdin quickly caught him with his magical powers and raised him back to his feet.
"Don't do that again. I don't want others to get the wrong idea that I'm intimidating my father," Aladdin lectured him sternly.
"Okay. But you still haven't answered my question," Cassim responded.
"You're not ready for the gift of immortality. I'm afraid that you would do something stupid once you obtain it. So it's best I wait until you're done with your punishment or reach a significant milestone and hand it over to you as a gift," Aladdin replied thoughtfully.
"Why?"
"You're not ready."
Cassim continued begging, but Aladdin stood his ground.
"Fine. At least give something to your father," Cassim said, grabbing hold of Aladdin's shoulders and squeezing tightly with the intention of refusing to let go.
"You can have one of these," Aladdin said, summoning a fruit of the Tree of Renewal from his storage ring. He explained the purpose of the treasure to Cassim before giving it to him.
"You don't mind giving me something like that to store my items for travel?" Cassim asked, stuffing the fruit into his clothes as though he was afraid that Aladdin would ask for it back.
"I don't have a spare. I'll make one for you after I return from my journey," Aladdin shook his head in response.
"You're leaving your Empire as well. Did anything happen?" Cassim asked, his expression turning solemn.
Having fought and spoken with his son, he knew how powerful Aladdin and his forces were. For the Emperor to leave the Empire meant that he was going to handle a task that no one else could handle.
The last instance of that was when he had battled Nasira.
He was worried that Aladdin was going to face a formidable enemy.
"I'll be travelling outside the Seven Deserts to handle some foreign affairs. So I won't be available for a while," Aladdin replied.
"Can I join you?" Cassim asked, almost looking excited.
He had never been outside the Seven Deserts because the journey was too long and tedious. Who knew how many months or years it would take to make it out there, or if it was even worth such a journey?
However, he knew that Aladdin could accomplish such a feat easily with his magic carpet and wanted to use the opportunity to experience the other side.
"No. This issue is too delicate to bring you along," Aladdin shook his head.
Just imagining introducing his father and the remaining twenty thieves to Mulan would create a bad first impression and was already giving him a headache.
"Oh, so you're hiding your father now?" Cassim placed both hands on his chest and spoke with an aggrieved yet understandable expression.
Before Aladdin could respond, a knock came from the door.
"Come in!" Aladdin commanded.
The door pulled open.
Rakim stepped into the room.
Rakim bowed to Aladdin.
"Your Majesty."
"I want to introduce you to someone," Aladdin said, gesturing for him to rise.
Rakim raised his head and narrowed his eyes at Cassim.
He didn't have a good feeling about what was going to happen from the way the Emperor had been acting throughout the day, especially around this criminal.
"This is my father, Cassim," Aladdin said.
Rakim's face stiffened. He didn't believe what he had just heard.
Cassim stepped forward and stretched out his hand.
"Hello. This is our first time meeting each other formally," he said. "I'm the father of Emperor Aladdin Ababwa." He stretched each syllable.
Rakim didn't pay attention to the criminal in front of him. He pushed him aside and grabbed hold of Aladdin's shoulders.
"Have you been charmed, Emperor? I'll get the magicians immediately to look at your condition," he asked.
"I'm fine. He's telling the truth," Aladdin shook his head and said. "He's my father."
"Hey, we might not like each other, but isn't that taking things too far? Besides, do you think that I have the ability to charm the Emperor of Ababwa, and why would I even do that to my own son?" Cassim stepped forward and retorted.
"You're the renowned, infamous King of Thieves. I should think no less of you," Rakim responded with a threatening tone as he pushed Aladdin behind him.
He could not accept such a revelation. Of all things, he would rather Empress Jasmine refuse the Emperor's choice on expanding the royal bloodline than accept that the father of his Emperor, who had freed them from their century-long curse, was a thief.
Cassim raised his hand and replied with a long, drawn-out sigh, "Fair point."
Rakim studied Cassim before shifting his attention back to Aladdin. He had been curious and confused about why the Emperor had opted for such a tedious task of beheading twenty of the Forty Thieves and sending the other twenty on some endless journey of doing good.
Now, he finally had his answer: It was for no other reason than familial love.
Naturally, Rakim would've been happy to meet the father of their Emperor, but when that supposed father was a thief who had abandoned his family for a life of crime, he would rather choose to grieve his corpse.
"I didn't inform you about this earlier because I knew that you would react like this, causing delays in the preparations," Aladdin said, noticing the shifting emotions on Rakim's face.
Rakim went down on one knee and said, "My Emperor, please do not hide such important information. Do you not trust that I'm capable of carrying out any task you desire, no matter how difficult it is?"
He didn't question Aladdin's decision. He knew his place. Not because he was afraid of getting his head chopped off; he knew Aladdin wasn't the kind of Emperor to do that.
Cassim went silent, seeing the display of loyalty. He realised that it wasn't his place to speak at such a moment.
Aladdin closed his eyes. He released a deep breath, fixed his gaze on Rakim once more, and said, "I will not repeat such a mistake again. I give you my word."
"I'll hold you to your word," Rakim nodded.
He rose back to his feet and turned to face Cassim. "I am Rakim, Imperial Grand General of the Empire of Ababwa," he said, stretching out his hand for a handshake and formally introducing himself.
"Cassim... former King of Thieves, father of the Emperor of Ababwa," Cassim replied, shaking his hand. He pulled him in and wrapped his right arm around his shoulders.
"Since we're both related to the Emperor, why don't we bond over fishing later before I leave? I would love to learn more about the Empire's history and how it relates to my wife. I know that this came from her side of the family. I know my family's history, in case you're feeling the need to ask," Cassim added.
Rakim pondered for a moment and nodded with a solemn expression.
"I'll do my best to ensure that you learn everything there is about Ababwa. From the last Emperor down to its first inception," he said.
During the period he taught Aladdin the basic manners of being an Emperor, he was also taught him about the history of Ababwa. However, Aladdin had decided to take the easy way by transferring the information from his memories to his own, along with various other important details from the tutors who had been sent to teach him and help him learn more about the Empire and its people.
He learnt that it was a magic he had grasped from Genie during one of their training sessions. He didn't have any problems with it except for the fact that it had robbed him of the joy of training the next Emperor.
Now, faced with another student who was presumably the Emperor's father and eager to learn about their history, he was excited and couldn't wait to start his lessons.
However, he reigned in his emotions.
Aladdin observed the scene with a relieved sigh.
"I'll leave you guys to it then. I haven't revealed this secret to the former Sultan of Agrabah, so ensure that it remains only between us," he said.
He vanished without giving them the chance to respond.
Cassim opened his mouth to speak, but stopped upon noticing that Aladdin was no longer present. He shook his head in defeat and turned to Rakim, "Does he always do that?"
"Yes, he does," Rakim nodded.
"Since I wasn't given a specific time to leave, how about we go fishing and have that conversation first?" Cassim said. He wanted the rest of the companions to fully recover before heading out.
"I have a boat," Rakim gently tapped his shoulder and walked out of the room. "Follow me."
"Yess!!"
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Author's Note: I realised the last chapter was a bit rushed, because I needed to speed up the plot for the Mulan arc. I promise to make it up to you all in the future chapters.
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