*a day `WARM on the sand!, [OPENNN!]

[Melody]

"Are you ready, Sebastian?" Melody asked, tilting her head towards the crab as she bent down, one knee in front and the other behind, preparing to launch off. She already had a bunch of sand on her white underclothes and a grin on her face. Just as her teeny red friend opened his mouth to protest, Melody shot off and started running, seashell bag in hand. "Come on!" she giggled…but just as she turned back to look at Sebastian and tell him that he was slower than a seaslug, Melody crashed into something. She fell back HARD onto the sand, rubbing the side of her cheek as it started to turn red from the impact. Melody slowly looked up.

“STREET RAT!” a man with pants as poofy as her own bloomers yelled at her.

"Street rat? What-" Melody began to say, surprised, when suddenly she realized that the sand had turned really, REALLY HOT! She yelped and pulled herself up quickly, all the while wondering WHO ON EARTH was this man! He just appeared out of nowhere! Melody hadn’t seen him standing on the beach earlier, and…uh oh. Melody forgot about her burning feet for a moment, completely shocked. She was surrounded by a bunch of people that she didn’t recognize. None of them were from Italy! She could tell!

But as Melody was busy looking around at the new sights, the man seized her seashell bag. Melody had been holding it pretty tightly since she tended to tense up when strangers yelled at her though, so he didn’t succeed in snatching it away. "What are you doing!?" Melody asked, struggling to pull it back.

“Thief! What did you steal?!” he shouted, trying to peep inside her bag.

"NOTHING!" Melody exclaimed, half of her in disbelief that this was happening, and another half eager to get her bag back. "I’m not a…streetrat, and I didn’t steal!" Just as Melody felt that the bag was going to rip, a strange monkey wearing a hat and vest slipped down from the canopy of the man’s apple booth. Melody’s eyes widened as the monkey plucked two apples up in his hands. The man watched Melody’s face and realized something was going on, so he turned around.

“WHY YOU!” he began, and Melody took this as her cue to GET OUT OF THERE! She pulled her bag and took off running even faster than before…part of the swiftness fueled by her fear, and another part fueled by how HOT the sand was on her feet! She had never felt sand this hot before! You would have to have been barefoot in this land for your entire life to grow used to it! Melody quickly ducked behind a corner, but as she did, she crashed into ANOTHER person.

Today DEFINITELY wasn’t her day…grace OR feet-wise!

[Mozenrath]

For all his powers and abilities there were some things Mozenrath had to get the same way as any other person. Namely, food clothes, and various spell ingredients, both mundane and otherwise. All of which meant: Shopping.

And, like it or not, Agrabah's Marketplace was the closest and had the greatest variety of goods. So he donned a simple glamour that would keep anyone from paying too close attention to him and went about his business. He occasionally paused to send his purchases to the Citadel, so he wouldn't have to carry everything at once.

The noon sun was getting high, and Mozenrath was debating whether to get something to eat before continuing on, when a small form abruptly made contact with his own. He let out an, "Ooph!" but managed to maintain his balance. The owner of said small form wasn't so lucky and crashed to the ground.

It was a young girl, perhaps between ten and thirteen who, despite her dark hair, had blue eyes and skin fair enough to mark her as a foreigner even if she hadn't been wearing such odd clothes. From the shouting he could hear, a merchant had caught her stealing and was now calling for the guards.

Hmm. He wasn't inclined to good deeds, but he loathed the guards. They stood for the thing he hated most: Power in the hands of undeserving mediocrities. It would be worth granting one small mercy if it meant getting the better of those fools.

Mozenrath faced the child. "Get behind me and don't move or speak until I tell you it's safe to do so."

He muttered the spell under his breath, throwing a veil of invisibility over the girl and himself. The guards, ever predictable, quickly assumed on failing to spot their quarry, that she must have gone the other way.

The sorcerer held the girl back a half-minute more just to make sure, then dissolved the enchantment. "The apes have moved on. You're safe, from them at least." He considered her again. "You're not from around here, that's for certain. I suggest you find your parents if you have them. The city may look inviting but it's no haven for runaways or beggars."

[Melody]

Melody was on the ground oneee more time. She groaned to herself. She had traveled to different places and even through time before, mostly with her cousin Maya…but it had only been unintentional ONCE! That time she had appeared in the Hundred Acre Woods and met that stuffed with fluff bear, Pooh! She still wasn’t sure how on earth that had happened but, here it was again!

Melody turned to look up…and then an expression of relief appeared. Uncle Mozenrath! She would recognize him anywhere. That meant that she was…in Agrabah? Well then, Melody didn’t mind that so much now that she was with family. She hadn’t seen her uncle in a while, and even though he was very different from her dad, Melody loved her uncle. She was also sure he would be able to help her, just like that time she had shown up in his library by accident…using her daddy’s crystal. He looked like he was examining her face, though…without even saying anything! That was a little weird, even for Uncle Mozenrath.

“Un-” Melody began to exclaim, when Uncle Mozenrath suddenly spoke, directing her to move behind him. She hurriedly obeyed him since his tone seemed pretty urgent. Melody crawled behind Uncle Mozenrath and scrambled to stand up. She watched with awe as he suddenly disappeared from in front of her…as did her feet! They were invisible! THAT wasn’t surprising for her uncle though, so Melody just held her breath as the guards ran on by with that big, mean man from earlier.

After they were both back to normal, Uncle Mozenrath turned to speak with her again. Melody’s eyes widened. What was he talking about?! He was acting like he didn’t know her at all! But then it occurred to Melody that he was probably being sarcastic as he usually was, and Melody grinned at him.

“I think Mom and Dad are still in Italy…” Melody replied giggling, knowing that Uncle Mozenrath actually did know who her parents were…just as he knew that she definitely wasn’t a runaway or beggar. After she spoke, Melody scrunched her toes on the sand as she was beginning to worry they were going to start blistering. “But Uncle Mozenrath, can we go back to the citadel? It’s really hot here, and the guards might come back again.” Melody also wanted to see Maya again. The two were as close as sisters, and since Melody didn’t have any other siblings, that made them even closer.

[Mozenrath]

“I think Mom and Dad are still in Italy…” The girl was actually giggling. Clearly she didn't comprehend her situation. Aside from her near escape from a lengthy stay in the palace dungeons (at the very least) his use of magic should have shocked, if not outright frightened her.

And Italy? Mozenrath's knowledge of European geography was a little sketchy, but that was a long way for a young girl to travel alone. Especially since she seemed to have no extra clothing, supplies, or even a pair of shoes! Which was evidently not a comfortable situation; given that she was scrunching her toes back against the heat of the desert sand. And yet she was smiling up at him as if she was certain that now everything was going to be all right. It was...unnerving.

But he couldn't expect to get a straight answer out of her while she was busy trying to keep the soles of her feet from burning. He spotted a stall selling clothing across the corner and saw a simple dress and slippers on display. He concentrated and the items in question disappeared and reappeared in his hands. (He tended to avoid thievery when forced to sojourn to Agrabah, for the simple fact that he wanted to avoid detection. But in this case he proffered its immediacy over discretion.)

"Here. Put these on," he said in a tone that suggested more annoyance than generosity.

He felt, more than ever, a sense of familiarity about the strange child. Which was ridiculous. He’d never even met her before. And yet, there was something compelling about her...

The sorcerer opened his mouth to ask the girl exactly how she'd come to be in Agrabah only for her to speak up on her own.

“But Uncle Mozenrath, can we go back to the citadel? It’s really hot here, and the guards might come back again.”

His mouth stayed open for a moment and his eyes narrowed as it finally closed. He hardly believed what he had just heard. "All right, I don't know if you think you're being amusing, or you've actually deluded yourself. I'm not even going to ask how you know my name, although clearly my reputation's preceded me, even in the West."

Mozenrath met her wide blue eyes with his own dark ones. "But let me make this clear: I have no siblings, and even if I did, you'd be too old to belong to any of them. Thus attempting to pass yourself off as my niece isn't going to work, though I can appreciate the effort. Besides," he muttered under his breath, "You're probably better off."

[Melody]

Melody knew that stealing wasn’t right. But she didn’t want to really say anything because of her feet being on fire and because…well, she had once stolen the TRIDENT so she didn’t really think it would be good to say anything. Besides, she needed them! “Thank you, Uncle Mozenrath!” Melody exclaimed, slipping the Arabian dress over her clothes and putting the shoes on eagerly. That was MUCH better. With her feet protected, she could finally think without worrying or cringing…and concentrate on her uncle. The first thing she noticed was that he seemed to have an expression of irritation on his face. It wasn’t COMPLETELY Un-Uncle Mozenrath, but he had always been at least somewhat sweet in a kind of unobvious, self-loathing way.

His next words surprised Melody (but she hid a giggle at the fact that he was being sort of brag-y about his reputation). She was a little confused on why he was saying all of this. It went past being sarcastic! Uncle Mozenrath actually seemed like he was being honest, so everything seemed kind of weird to Melody. All she really wanted to do was stop chatting out her in the middle of the marketplace and get back to the citadel to see Maya, who she missed, as well as Mahad, and Auntie Sadira.

But the memory of Maya brought up a thought to Melody’s head. What if she had…time traveled? They had done it before, and everyone had acted the same way Uncle Mozenrath was acting now. It all made sense suddenly!

But Melody wanted to groan. It wasn’t easy dealing with a confused uncle, especially by herself. She wished Maya was with her, but according to the recently discovered facts, she didn’t even exist right now! The easiest way was to just prove that Melody wasn’t crazy by stating everything she knew about her uncle, which was kinda how she did it before. Like how Daddy asked me what Mommy’s name was.

“Umm...okay, I’ll explain it to you,” Melody said a little bit nervously. “I’m from the future, which may sound weird but I swear it’s true! You have a half-brother named Eric Di Costa who rules Italy, and I’m his daughter.” Melody shut up like a clam after a moment and chewed her lip and little anxiously. She knew that he probably thought she was crazy!

But then another thought occurred to her.

“Before you blast me with your gauntlet--” she added hastily, raising up her hands like in a surrender. “--I promise I'm telling the truth! I really do know who you are! You’re Mozenrath. You live in a citadel and have a talking eel named Xerxes and a bunch of gross zombie guys called… Mum…Mamluks! You sort of...had a rough childhood and were kinda raised by a man named Disdain…? I mean, Destane!” It was kinda difficult retrieving all that information that Melody had learned one time from her father in the library, but the fear gave her a certain edge.

[Mozenrath]

Mozenrath saw the girl looked somewhat disconcerted at his having stolen the clothing he gave to her (though she accepted it readily enough). Rolling his eyes, he flicked a hand, and a few gold coins appeared on the stall's counter, He raised an eyebrow, as if to say, 'Are you happy now?'

Even after he had explained in detail that there was no way he could be the girl's uncle she insisted on sticking to her impossible story.

“Umm...okay, I’ll explain it to you.”

Mozenrath crossed his arms, wondering how she could possibly do so. "Very well. Tell me."

“I’m from the future, which may sound weird but I swear it’s true! You have a half-brother named Eric Di Costa who rules Italy, and I’m his daughter.”

The sorcerer nodded, repeating in a sarcastic tone, "Well of course, You're the time-traveling future daughter of my long-lost half brother, who happens to rule Italy. That makes perfect sense. How could I have missed it."

He met her eyes a second time. "Whatever it is you're looking for, I'm not it. You should be on your way."

The girl seemed to take him seriously, at least enough to throw up her arms in a defensive gesture. “Before you blast me with your gauntlet-I promise I'm telling the truth! I really do know who you are!"

His lips quirked into something that was almost a smile. Whoever she was, she at least believed what she said. As for blasting her...well it would hardly be worthwhile to exercise his power on a helpless child. There was no harm in letting this play out a little longer. "All right. Who am I?"

"You’re Mozenrath. You live in a citadel and have a talking eel named Xerxes and a bunch of gross zombie guys called… Mum…Mamluks! You had a rough childhood and were kinda raised by a man named Disdain…? I mean, Destane!”

All traces of amusement left Mozenrath's face and he said with barely restrained rage. "'Rough' or not, my childhood is none of your business, nor is my old Master. And, long-lost relations aside, you still haven't told me anything you couldn't have found out from other sources. Either produce some proof, or make your exit. My patience is wearing thin."

[Melody]

Melody grinned at Uncle Mozenrath when she saw the money appear on the table in exchange for the clothes and shoes. "Thanks, Uncle Mozenrath," she murmured, and then it came out naturally..."You're...the worst." She grinned more at him. It was what she usually said, since she knew that he didn't like to be called "nice" to his face.

At her uncle's all too common sarcasm, Melody blew her bangs out of her face, a trait she had picked up from her mother. Suddenly his "snark" (as her parents, or mostly her father, liked to put it) wasn't as funny as it used to be. She had heard that he used to be different, but she had never thought she would experience it herself. "But you are! And I don't have a "way"! I've only been here a few times, Uncle Mozenrath!" Melody protested.

But all her urgency and little aggravation melted away when Uncle Mozenrath gave her a look that she had never received before from a family member. Her heart sunk.

Melody bit her lip. She felt so...lost. It hurt to think that her uncle, who had once been so secretly nice and kind to her...the one who had actually seemed to understand her at times, was now gazing down at her with a look so harsh and cold, that he looked like he could kill her. "I'm so...sorry, I...didn't m-mean..." Melody stuttered more than nervously, staring at the ground. But suddenly, something came to her. "Carrots!" Melody blurted out. She immediately turned red after wards, but forced herself to continue on. "You...you hate them." Melody could remember her uncle's fervent hatred for the orange vegetable.

"...and..." Melody took another deep breath, eager to prove herself...but deathly afraid of being rejected. Rejection, after all, had been the reason for her depression in the past and why she had run away. It was one of her worst fears. Facing those of noble children was hard enough. But she knew she had to try. "...you wear a silver pendant...an ankh pendant..." She hesitated to add an "Uncle Mozenrath" at the end of her sentence, and in the end, decided against it.

"I...promise..." Melody repeated her previous swear, and finally turned to look straight back up into his dark eyes. Her face was hopeful. Please, please, believe me.

[Mozenrath]

After he deposited the coins on the stall's counter the girl once again smiled up at him. "Thanks, Uncle Mozenrath," she murmured, and then it came out naturally..."You're...the worst."

She said it as if it was an old joke or familiar game between the two of them, and for a moment he didn't know what to think.

And thought in general flew from his head when, in trying to prove that she knew who he was, she mentioned his old master. Some instinct kept his rage from exploding, but it showed on his face and in the icy tone of his voice.

The girl clearly saw it, because she attempted a stuttering apology."I'm so...sorry, I...didn't m-mean..."

The sorcerer sighed. He had no interest in scaring children. And she clearly hadn't meant any harm. There was also something in her eyes besides the fear...it was almost like she was disappointed. As if he had failed her somehow. He didn't owe the girl anything. There was no possible way her story was true. But he couldn't take her looking at him like that. "All right, kid-"

"Carrots!" The girl blurted out, cutting off what he was about to say. Mozenrath raised an eyebrow, wondering what that had to do with anything. She blushed, but continued speaking. "You...you hate them."

And he did. For whatever reason the taste of the orange vegetables had always disgusted him. And that was information no one else could have given her. Was it possible...?

"...and..." The girl kept going, "...you wear a silver pendant...an ankh pendant..."

Mozenrath blinked. The silver pendant was the only thing he had from his life before Destane. He almost always wore it safely tucked well under his clothing. As far as he knew no one was aware that he had such a thing, let alone its significance.

"I...promise..."

The girl looked at him with pleading eyes, everything about her suggesting complete sincerity. And, like it or not, her story had just gotten a lot more credible. Besides, if she was lying he would find out sooner or later.

He sighed again. "All right. You may accompany me for now, and we'll see about getting you back where you belong. However..."He paused and looked her straight in the eye, speaking without any real menace, but making his point nonetheless, "If I find out you are lying to me I will be seriously displeased."

[Melody]

“Thank you, Uncle Mozenrath!” Melody said, and she immediately hugged him, completely forgetting the situation for the moment. It was the same way Melody had hugged her uncle after she ran away from home. She had finally felt like someone understood her, and was even there at her side. One person who could be her friend who wasn’t an animal. A moment after Melody squeezed Uncle Mozenrath in a bear cub hug, she remembered that…well, he technically wasn’t really even her uncle yet. She released him quickly, and let out a nervous laugh and put her hands behind her back. “Sorry.” Her face was as red as coral again.

"If I find out you are lying to me I will be seriously displeased."

His expression would have made any liar feel guilty enough to confess, but since Melody wasn’t lying, she smiled back at him. “I’m not!” Melody shook her head, when her uncle said that if she wasn’t telling the truth, he would be unhappy. But there was a smile still on her face, just because Melody was pretty relieved that Uncle Mozenrath seemed to be starting to believe her, if even just a little tiny bit. She knew what it felt like to be lied to, and she didn't like it at all.

Then Melody realized that she hadn’t told him her name yet—in the beginning, she had thought that he knew her, so she just assumed he knew her name. “I’m Melody,” Melody introduced herself, grinning. “You may not know who I am yet…but I definitely know you’re my Uncle Mozenrath.” She glanced up at the cloudless, bright blue sky. “I know a lot about you…even things that you don’t know! Things like…” Melody giggled a little. “…you getting punched in the nose by my daddy.” Normally, that wasn’t something a little girl should laugh about, but she knew that both her father and her uncle had meant good. Her father had wanted to protect her, while her uncle had wanted her to be free.

[OOC: I was guessing she could tell him about Sadira and everyone next? XD or then again, don’t wanna bombshell poor Mozey, so I can postpone that if ya want!]

[Mozenrath]

Mozenrath was completely unprepared for the child suddenly launching herself at him and wrapping him in a tight hug. His eyes no doubt bugged out comically while he held his arms well away from his waist, as if he wanted there to be no doubt that he was not reciprocating.

Fortunately the girl seemed to sense his discomfort and pulled away, blushing as she murmured an apology. He awkwardly patted her shoulder to show he wasn't angry. She seemed to be somewhat sensitive and he didn't want her looking at him again.. "It's...fine. Just don't do that again."

And she was smiling again. At him. This whole scenario just got stranger and stranger...

Just then the girl chose to introduce herself, still grinning.“I’m Melody.”

He nodded, not knowing how to respond to that, since she already knew his name, which she then chose to reconfirm.

“You may not know who I am yet…but I definitely know you’re my Uncle Mozenrath.”

"So you've said."

“I know a lot about you…even things that you don’t know! Things like…” Melody giggled a little. “…you getting punched in the nose by my daddy.”

That got Mozenrath's attention. He raised an eyebrow. "Was there any particular reason?" Not that people hadn't taken an instant dislike to him, or merely wanted to wipe a smirk of his face on sheer principle. But he was curious as to whether that had been the case in that instance.

[Melody]

Melody was expecting Uncle Mozenrath to just brush the hug off, since he seemed to be a little more…reserved? than the uncle she was used to. So when he started patting her shoulder, Melody’s mouth popped open a little. Not enough to really be noticeable, but enough to show that she was kind of startled. But soon enough, her mouth curved up into a smile.

"It's...fine. Just don't do that again."

“I won’t,” Melody replied. But since her hands were still behind her back, she felt two of her fingers crossing. Okay, well, maybe, SOMETIMES Melody lied…but she couldn’t help it when it came to things like hugging. She was still just a child, and an adult who didn’t want a hug was really just asking for it in Melody’s mind. And it wasn’t like she said “I promise”, after all!

Melody was surprised for a minute. Why WOULDN’T there be a reason? She wasn’t aware that people would want to hit her uncle for no good reason, since she never really saw him as that type of person. But she didn’t ask him about this, not wanting to make him angry like before. “Yeah…a good one!” she smiled, and then realized how it sounded. “N-Not that there’s ever really a good enough reason for hitting someone…” she added quickly afterwards, although…deep down, there were some people, or creatures, like Morgana, who Melody would never feel guilty about hitting. She had tried to hurt Melody’s family after all! And she had tricked her. Melody would never forgive that seawitch.

Melody shook her head to forget about Morgana, and continue talking to Uncle Mozenrath. “My parents were afraid that I would get hurt, so they built a wall in front of the ocean—‘cause our castle is right on the beach—but you didn’t want that to happen,” Melody explained, grin still on her face. “And then…you and Daddy got into and argument and…” her voice trailed off and she tilted her head. “He punched you.”

But since Melody didn’t want her uncle to think anything bad of his half-brother (since hd didn’t really meet him yet), she spoke up one more time. “But then you DID say that you badmouthed him with a looong sentence with a lot of bad words I’m not allowed to hear, so it wasn't that bad.” Well, that might sound more like the Mozenrath Uncle Mozenrath was used to.