Jafar's World

Year 3

Another year had passed. Jafar continuously increased his diverse skills and Jasmine grew alongside them.

His information network was spreading throughout the lands nicely, bringing him all the necessary details to get a grasp on how each nation was developing.

In China, the Huns were beginning to act up, pushing the borders farther and more aggressively than before. The increasing rumors of the notorious 'Shan Yu' suggested that the invasion was not too far away, though probably not for at least a decade knowing Mulan's age and the canon timeline. The exact location of Mulan was unknown at the moment, and not something Jafar was too focused on finding. She had her own storyline and he had his.

Ultimately, it was an event that the Agrabah was not directly related to. The Chinese were far too proud to have a direct alliance. The most they were willing to relinquish was trade. If it ever came to the point where the empire was on the brink of losing, Jafar was willing to step in for a price. However, he doubted that the wild Huns had enough strength to overpower the humongous Chinese Empire or Mulan's plot armor anytime soon.

On the brighter side, he had received quite a number of letters addressed to him and Jasmine coming from Arendelle's two prized princesses. Elsa's letters far outstripped Anna's in terms of both quantity and quality, but he appreciated both nonetheless. The latter had their own unique, child-like charm while Elsa's letters contained information about how her training was going, how much she appreciated the gifts, and other mundane life events.

At her continuous beseechment, Jafar increased his own returning letters to twice a week instead of just once.

Anyway, it was nice to see an improvement from her canon isolated, depressed self. With Jasmine starting to grasp the basics of reading, Jafar helped her make out the practiced, written cursive on the letters.

Apart from their own prized princess still being missing, the Corona Kingdom was thriving. The royal family was popular and well-liked. Tourism was at an all time high, and he even heard their latest lantern festival drew nearly twice the crowd compared to last year. All in all, good things to hear from their allies.

Inside their own kingdom, Jasmine was growing at an unparalleled rate, grasping the ability to connect full sentences. It pleased everyone in the palace, perhaps the most being Jafar himself. Beyond just her sheer cuteness, he genuinely enjoyed the process of watching her grow and learn.

On a side note, during one relaxing evening, he connected a little more with the Sultana — Aisha. She was someone Jafar never knew about from his past life, and he didn't intend on getting too close to her besides the formalities… at least that was the plan until one particular day.

Although it started as simple talk, they ended up continuing their conversation, even meandering down to the stables where she giggled uncontrollably when Sahara, her favorite horse, practically ran him over when Jafar tried to feed him a carrot. Later, he learned that Sahara only accepted the ripest of apples. Damned needy horse…

After the near catastrophe, he learned a lot more about Aisha through their conversation. As it turned out, the Sultana came from Sherabad, a kingdom of prosperous economical power located between the Agrabah and east. Since the Agrabah was a strong military power, an alliance through marriage was favorable to both parties, leading to the current situation. Fortunately, it seemed everything ended well since Aisha found the Sultan a kind and loving husband.

It also turned out that the Sultana quite enjoyed art. Since it was a way to connect with her and potentially avoid his misfortune by raising his favorability with the royal family, Jafar tried to get into painting as well. Mixing paint wasn't too far off from his alchemy, and his hand-eye coordination wasn't bad either. He ended up drawing the desert landscape with Aisha's beautiful visage as the main attraction.

She seemed greatly touched at his gesture and asked him if she could keep it, to which he obviously accepted. There was no way he could refuse a personal request from the Sultana even if he wanted to.

Around the middle of the year, Jafar received a letter from the Corona Kingdom to visit for some time. He guessed that it had something to do with the missing princess, Rapunzel. 

'Rapunzel… I believe she was around 3 years older than Jasmine which puts her at 6 years old now.'

After seeking out the Sultan and gaining his permission, he quietly left on the diplomatic mission while leaving Jamine's other tutors with specific instructions on the best ways to teach her. Jafar didn't know how long it would take but he doubted he would be gone for too long. Honestly, he felt that some time away from each other would be good for both of them. Growing up too attached to a single person was never healthy, especially for a future noble ruler.

'The vibrant nation that is Corona Kingdom. It'll be an illuminating experience…'

…

To his surprise, Jafar was met with great fanfare and cheers when he entered the Corona Kingdom. It seemed his inner bias as a villain was still apparent. Even now, he struggled to grasp the idea that, to the outside world, he was seen as a great alchemist who had garnered respect from far across the lands.

His small projects that he barely paid attention to, or the economic policies that he enacted with 20th century knowledge shocked their allied nations as well. The various gadgets he devised also met astounding success to even commoners. The citizens of the Corona Kingdom looked upon him with genuine awe, clapping and whooping of their own volition.

After that shock, Jafar was ushered to the throne room where he met the warm smiles of King Frederic and Queen Arianna. However, a man of his experience did not miss the hints of pain and worry hidden behind their tired eyes.

He exchanged a few pleasantries with them, but kept it to a minimum. Jafar knew the issue he was most likely called here to resolve, and that issue was of great urgency to the king and queen.

"Please…" Queen Arianna sobbed, the tears already beginning to stream down her fair cheeks. "We've tried every other option. We scoured the kingdom. We sent out bounties. We've hired the most established investigators. All of them were left with their heads scratching."

Frederic supported his wife, though his eyes also seemed watery.

"We heard from my beloved brother that you helped them solve their nearly impossible problem. We heard you were capable of feats that no other men were capable of. Please… as the ruler of Corona Kingdom, I'm willing to offer any compensation you are willing to take."

Jafar inwardly sighed. It was honestly exactly as he expected. And thus came the conflict.

'Should I even help? I could definitely find Mother Gothel and Rapunzel with the information and resources I have. On the other hand, that would utterly ruin Rapunzel's destined fate and leave her future unknown…'

However, there was no way he could reveal his inner conflict in front of Rapunzel's distressed parents.

"Of course, King Frederic! Queen Arianna! As the Royal Vizier of the Agrabah, I would be a dastardly villain to refuse any aid in your time of need. Although my powers may be greatly exaggerated, I'm willing to contribute every fiber of my being to saving your beautiful daughter!"

The royal couple's eyes lit up with grateful joy.

'A bit over the top, but hey. If it works, it works.'

A few days passed as Jafar locked himself in a room filled with maps and books. He called anyone and everyone who had witnessed the kidnapping. He asked for areas with bountiful flora and greenery, just like the area where Rapunzel's tower was located in the film.

With the images captured in his head, though it was not an easy feat, Jafar eventually narrowed the search radius to a few parts of the map. However, he didn't reveal anything to the royal couple. Firstly, he didn't want to get their hopes up for nothing. After all, nothing was absolute. Secondly, Jafar was still unsure if he even should save Rapunzel.

Rubbing his tired eyes, the Royal Vizier sighed.

'First I'll rest. At dawn, I'll set off on my own. With my crafted gear and powers, there are few things that could harm me in Corona Kingdom.'

For this occasion, Jafar had even brought his staff that he usually didn't like to bring around anymore.