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Oh, but it issssss, a voice hissed in the middle of all that gold, and Jay looked up to see the Golden Cobra, with its magnificent hood raised around its face, slowly unraveling from a basket. All this is real, and it could be yours.
“How?” asked Jay, staring straight into the red eyes of the snake.
I will be your servant, the cobra told him. I serve the master of the sand.
Jay was transfixed.
You see that curtain behind you?
Jay turned to see a rich, shining tapestry hanging over the passage he had just come through.
Leave your friends behind and pass through that doorway with me, and you shall have all the riches you desire.
Jay blinked, and suddenly he was seated on a raised platform, wearing a white turban on his head. He was not in the cave at all. He was the Sultan of Agrabah, the richest man in Auradon. Next to him were piles of gold and every kind of precious jewel.
A feast had been set before him with all his favorite dishes, and the people surrounding him bowed, fear in their eyes.
This was what his father had always wanted. His true place in Auradon, above everyone, above everything, wealthy beyond reason, with all the riches of the world at his feet.
All the riches of the world…
He blinked against the vision, and returned to the cave, staring at the mountain of gold and the red eyes of the cobra.
What had Yen Sid told him before they had set off?
The riches of the world are all around you.
Jay didn’t need much. He wasn’t like his father, ruthless and cold. He just liked to play tourney and hang out with his friends. He enjoyed a good game, and good times. Good friends. He thought of how Mal had stood up to her mother rather than let Maleficent hurt any of them. And how Carlos could always be counted on to help with Math Can Be Magic homework, and how Evie would always drop whatever she was doing to listen to him overanalyze an opposing team’s play.
He had a great life, and he had wonderful friends. He was already rich beyond measure. The professor was right: the riches of the world were all around him.
“No,” he said with a smile.
No? The cobra hissed and flicked its long tongue.
“I’m taking you back to Auradon so you can be destroyed.”
The cobra hissed and spat, venom arcing at Jay.
He dodged the poison, and captured the snake with his hand and held it tightly in his grip. The cobra thrashed and hissed, but Jay did not flinch or cower. “You will submit to my will, you are mine to command! And I command you to heel!”
With those words, the cobra stiffened and froze, turning into a simple wooden stick.
When Jay finally emerged from the cave, he found his three friends waiting for him outside. Carlos was reading a book he’d brought, Mal was sketching in her journal, and Evie was combing her hair.
“That’s the Golden Cobra?” asked Mal, noticing the humble stick Jay was holding.
“It was,” said Jay with a triumphant smile. “Okay, where next?”
In answer, the cave behind them began to rumble and disintegrate, just like the tree had done earlier. An outline of a door appeared on one of the rocks that had marked the cave’s entrance. Carlos grabbed the knob and yanked the door open, blasting them with cold air. “Let’s go!” he yelled.
The three of them followed, Jay using his stick to hold the door open for the girls.
When they reached the other side, after all they had experienced so far, they were only a little surprised to find that they were in a modern city. It was time for Carlos to find his mother’s talisman.
Unlike Auradon City, this city was abandoned and gray instead of bustling with energy and life. Shops and streets were empty, buildings and offices shuttered. The whole place was covered in a thick dark fog, with only a few skyscrapers piercing through the heavy mist.
“Where are we?” said Carlos, his voice shaking slightly. His stomach was churning with the knowledge that this was the home of his particular talisman.
