The deeper they moved into the Cave of Wonders, the less the place resembled a treasure trove and more a graveyard of forgotten ancient kingdoms.
The glittering piles of gold grew sparse, giving way to crumbling statues, collapsed bridges, and hollow corridors that seemed to breathe with ancient magic.
Helios led the way, Alira resting lightly in his arms. He carried her princess-style without comment, feeling her head rest quietly against his shoulder.
He didn't trust her nimble feet on ground like this — traps laced the very floor, almost invisible now.
One misstep would doom them all.
Aladdin trailed after, eyes darting left and right, a stolen scimitar tied loosely at his side — a precaution Helios insisted upon earlier.
"Hey," Aladdin whispered. "How much further?"
Helios didn't look back.
"Further than you want," he said as he chuckled. "Less than you fear."
They crossed a narrow stone bridge suspended over a chasm so deep even Helios' senses couldn't measure the bottom.
The bridge cracked ominously with each step.
Halfway across, Aladdin froze, spotting something shimmering on the stone.
"Trap," Helios said quietly.
Aladdin frowned, kneeling.
A tiny hairline glyph — so faint it was nearly invisible — was etched across a loose stone. A careless step would have triggered... something unpleasant.
Carefully, Aladdin traced around it with a shard of broken metal, disarming the trap with surprising skill.
Helios nodded once in approval.
"Not bad, kid."
Aladdin grinned grimly and hurried across.
They pressed onward — and the further they went, the more the cave shifted against them.
Pillars crumbled without warning.
The cave became more dangerous as they went.
And worse... something else was coming.
Outside the cave, beneath the shivering starlight, Jafar trembled as shadow oozed from the sands around him.
At first, he recoiled — thinking it some ancient curse.
But the figures that emerged — their bodies twisted in the forms of men and monsters — merely stood there, bowing slightly in his presence.
The air crackled with dark energy.
Jafar's lips twisted into a manic grin.
"Obey me..." he hissed.
The Heartless — their yellow eyes flickering — remained motionless.
"Step back."
He tested.
They stepped back, shuffling in eerie, perfect synchronization.
Jafar threw back his head and laughed — a broken, shrieking sound.
"So," he whispered, clutching his serpent staff, "even the darkness itself bends to me."
His mind raced — if Helios thought he had won, if that boy thought he could mock him — he was a fool.
He would slaughter that thief.
Rip the lamp from his cold hands.
Then he would rid himself of the Sultan, take the Rani as his wife, and rule Agrabah.
"Go kill the person inside and retrieve the lamp for me," he commanded.
And like spilled ink, the Heartless slipped into the shadows — vanishing into the cracks of the earth, into the arteries of the Cave.
Jafar waited only a moment longer — then followed after, his staff humming with greedy, crackling power.
Deep within the cave, Helios felt it.
A ripple — faint, but growing — like oil seeping into clear water.
Alira stirred slightly in his arms.
"You sense it too," he murmured to her.
Her wide eyes blinked up at him once, then closed again.
Aladdin stumbled forward, oblivious, kicking aside a half-buried goblet.
Helios caught his shoulder roughly.
"Remember don't touch anything even with your feet."
Aladdin scowled but nodded.
They moved on.
Another trap.
A series of narrow stepping stones stretched over a pit of writhing spikes.
Helios measured the distance.
Too far for a carrying leap.
Carefully, he set Alira down.
"Stay here," he said quietly. "Move only when I say."
Alira gave the faintest nod.
Helios vaulted across first — his boots barely brushing the stones, using minimal weight to avoid pressure triggers.
He landed cleanly on the other side.
"Now," he said.
Alira stepped lightly — impossibly graceful — following the exact path Helios had taken.
Aladdin cursed under his breath, looking down at the spikes.
"Great. A death pit."
He hesitated — then dashed across, arms windmilling wildly.
Miraculously, he made it.
Helios caught him by the scruff of his shirt as he stumbled past.
"You're quite lucky," Helios muttered.
"Story of my life," Aladdin panted.
They pressed on.
The hallways became narrower.
The treasures became more marvalous — crystal crowns, jeweled swords, piles of gold, gemstones of every color.
Helios sensed it.
They were no longer alone. The heartless had entered the cave.
The first signs came in whispers.
Not words.
Not threats.
Just a humming, a sick, greedy resonance that could be felt by dark beings like himself.
Helios slowed, he summoned his keyblade and waited hand tightening around Equilibrium's hilt.
Alira stood closer beside him, sensing the change.
Aladdin, seeing Helios summon a weapon, drew his scimitar halfway.
Then—
CRASH.
A section of the wall to their right exploded outward in a hail of sand and stone.
The noise was so startling that young Aladdin dropped the scimitar he carried and it fell into the sand.
From the dust staggered shapes — dozens of them — eyes glowing yellow in the half-light.
Bandits — squat, goblin-like creatures dressed in purple vests and bright white turbans.
Their golden hilted scimitars gleamed wickedly under the cave's faint light as they leapt forward, eyes wild and glowing.
Behind them, taller, leaner monsters darted like shadows — Luna Bandits, wrapped in orange capes, brandishing twin crescent-shaped blades that glinted with every savage twist of their bodies.
The sand behind them shivered — and Fat Bandits emerged.
They waddled forward with grotesque glee, huge bloated bodies clad in garish orange vests and green pants. Their bellies jiggled with each step as they belched gouts of flame, the fire painting the cavern walls in violent light.
Higher still, floating eerily above the fray, drifted Fortunetellers.
These ghostly figures balanced atop shimmering crystal balls, their veiled faces hidden by ornate headdresses.
They began weaving ice magic in lazy, deadly spirals.
And behind them all, moving with the inevitability of a drawn blade, came the Heat Saber.
A massive humanoid form wrapped in silver armor, jagged molten blades for arms.
Each step it took left black scorch marks on the stones.
Two more titans lumbered forward behind it — Solid Armors, hollow suits of purple and gold armor that moved with clanking, mechanical malice.
The heartless had arrived.
And more — larger figures moving behind them: gleaming armors, twisted sorceresses riding crystal balls, a towering Heat Saber dragging molten swords behind it.
Helios' eyes narrowed.
"Looks like this is when the heartless first emerged in Agrabah," he muttered.
He reached into his pouch, pulled out a larger but lightweight scimitar, and tossed it to Aladdin. This was the same one he would go on to carry and fight with alongside Sora. Helios saw it plus another object and decided to buy them. However, only the scimitar was useful now so he handed that one over.
"Defend yourself," he barked. "Don't drop this one and protect her."
Aladdin barely caught the weapon, eyes wide.
"Wait, what—?!"
Helios turned, flashing forward to attack.
"No time," he said.
And then the Heartless were upon him.
The first wave came fast — Luna Bandits, spinning and leaping with twin scimitars.
Helios ducked, parried, and countered with a flash of fire magic, sending them sprawling.
The Bandits surged next — swords swinging wildly — but Helios blasted them back with a wide burst of Aero.
Behind him, Aladdin fought clumsily but fiercely, keeping Alira shielded behind him.
More Heartless poured from the shadows.
Too many.
Helios cursed under his breath.
He could fight and defeat these heartless, but not here not when he had these two to protect.
He made a decision instantly.
"Fall back through there!" he shouted pointing in a direction.
Aladdin barely heard him over the clash of metal but obeyed, backing toward a crumbling archway.
Helios covered the retreat, fire and ice and lightning lashing from his keyblade.
The Heartless pressed closer — the Heat Saber roaring as it charged, carving molten scars into the floor.
Helios grit his teeth, launching a volley of spells that barely slowed the tide.
They had to retreat deeper into the Cave.
Into the unknown.
There was no other choice.