The te afternoon sun cast long golden beams across the rooftops of Agrabah, warming the stone and painting the market below in hues of fire and honey. Helios, Alira, and Addin weaved through quieter backstreets now, away from prying eyes.
Helios led them toward a crumbling archway that opened into a half-colpsed courtyard — a forgotten pce, shielded by ruined walls and broken statues, perfect for privacy.
He stopped beneath the twisted remains of an old fig tree, the sparse branches casting skeletal shadows over the cracked stones.
Addin leaned against a fallen pilr, arms crossed, still eyeing Helios like he expected to be tricked at any moment.
Alira stood nearby, silent and watchful, her cloak drawn close.
Helios took a slow breath, letting the moment stretch.
Then, calmly, he spoke.
“There are rules to this job,” he said.
Addin arched an eyebrow but said nothing.
Helios continued, his voice smooth and even.
“Inside the cave — the pce we're going — there are many eye-catching treasures. Mountains of gold. Jewels rger than your head. Weapons that could level cities. Things you’ve only heard of in the wildest stories.”
He let the words sink in, let them glimmer in Addin’s mind like forbidden fruit.
"But," Helios said sharply, cutting through the dream, “you must not touch anything."
Addin’s brow furrowed.
Helios took a step closer, lowering his voice.
“No matter how beautiful it looks, no matter how close it is to your fingers... you don’t touch it. You don’t take it. You don’t even brush against it by accident.”
Addin shifted uncomfortably.
“Why?” he asked, suspicion creeping into his voice. “Sounds kinda... crazy.”
Helios smiled thinly.
“Because this isn’t just a cave but also a mystical being guarding treasure,” he said. “It guards itself from wicked intentions.”
He folded his arms.
“Take anything — even a single coin in greed — and the cave will colpse in on us. It will bury you alive, swallow you whole, wipe every trace of you from existence.”
Addin paled slightly but covered it with a shrug.
“Sure,” he said, a little too casually. “Sounds easy enough. Don’t touch shiny things. Got it.”
Helios' smile didn’t reach his eyes.
He flicked his wrist — and with a soft shimmer of magic, the golden astrobe appeared again, spinning gently between his fingers.
Addin’s gaze, despite himself, tracked it instinctively.
Helios caught it neatly and tucked it away again, as if to hammer the lesson home.
“Temptation,” Helios said. “That’s the real enemy inside.”
Addin scowled, kicking a pebble across the broken stones.
“What’re we even looking for then?” he muttered.
Helios’ expression shifted — a practiced smile, touched with casual indifference.
“An old mp,” he said.
Addin blinked.
“A... mp?”
Helios chuckled under his breath.
“Yes. A simple, battered old mp, hidden at the heart of the cave.”
He leaned back against the ruined fig tree, one boot resting on the stone.
"I’m a historian, of sorts," he said lightly. "I chase down relics. Stories. Legends. This mp has been passed down through the ages — a rare find, a piece of living history."
He shrugged, as if it was barely worth mentioning.
Addin squinted at him.
“You’re telling me... we’re passing up piles of gold... for a rusty old mp?”
Helios gave him a conspiratorial wink.
“People with money are strange, aren’t they?”
Addin snorted.
“You’re all crazy.”
Helios ughed — an easy, genuine sound — and even Alira’s lips twitched slightly at the edges.
The tension between them eased a fraction.
Not much.
But enough.
As they sat beneath the fig tree, Helios pulled a worn piece of parchment from his coat — with faded ink lines that led toward a small drawing of a tiger’s head.
“The entrance to the cave is hidden,” Helios said, unrolling the map between them. "It only appears under the right conditions. And once it does, we’ll have a limited window before it seals again."
He traced a finger along the rough outline of dunes and canyons.
"We’ll need to move fast. You’ll lead. I’ll follow. Alira will join us so we’ll have to protect her."
Addin gave Alira a skeptical gnce.
“She gonna be okay?”
Helios nodded.
“She’s stronger than she looks and besides I’ll be looking out for her.”
Alira met Addin’s gaze with her usual bnk stare — but somewhere behind it, something curious flickered.
Addin shivered slightly and looked away.
Helios spent the next hour drilling Addin on the basics.
Stay low.
Don’t trigger pressure ptes.
Watch for tripwires.
If in doubt — stop and call him forward.
Most importantly touch nothing.
Addin absorbed the information faster than Helios expected.
Smart.
Resourceful.
The boy would do well.
If he survived.
As the sun sank below the horizon, painting the sky in violent streaks of orange and purple, Helios rolled up the parchment and tucked it back into his coat.
He stood, brushing dust from his cloak.
“Tomorrow night,” he said. “We move at sundown.”
Addin looked up at him.
“And if I change my mind?”
Helios shrugged, casual as ever.
“Then I find someone else.”
He smiled faintly.
“But you won’t.”
He offered a hand.
Addin hesitated — then shook it.
This time, his grip was a little steadier.
A little stronger.
Helios squeezed once before releasing him.
As they parted ways for the night, Helios watched the boy disappear into the alleys.
Alira stepped up beside him silently.
"You believe he will come back?" she asked, her voice quiet.
Helios tilted his head thoughtfully.
“I believe he will,” he said. “He needs money... and sometimes that's all that matters.”
He turned away, the wind catching his jacket.
