Chapter 2

"Who the hell are you?" I asked the man who stood before me. His skin was darkly tanned, and his features were Indian. He was completely bald, and wore a gray patterned suit with black backing and a vibrant blue tie. He had appeared in a single unspectacular flash of light, sweeping me a gentle bow before straightening himself and looking me over in much the same way a chief might look over a meal before serving it to the president. My every detail was scrupulously examined. When he finished, he smiled at me. It was a kind and assuring smile. It told me I had passed whatever test he had giving me.

He nodded and spoke, with absolute and unflinching seriousness. "My name is Al'Karab, and I am the Djinn of the Lamp. As you are the current owner of the Lamp, I am licensed to grant you the fulfillment of three wishes. You need only state aloud the desire of your wish, and I shall make it so." I stood there and stared at him for almost two minutes. He didn't blink once.

"My name is Jason, and I'm just a regular kid." I said by way of response. I surprised myself with how calmly I was taking all of this. Assuming this was really happening and I hadn't lost my mind, there were some things I needed to know before I risked doing anything else. It may not seem like much, but deviously evil genies that turned their master's wishes against them were very common mythological figures. I wasn't about to take any chances when I didn't know what was true and what wasn't. "I know most of the legends and stories about this sort of thing, they were popular when I was younger, but I don't know what, if anything, is true, and what is false. Can I ask you some questions on the matter?"

"Most people don't ask permission for that sort of thing, but yes: you may."

"What are the limits on what I can wish for?" This one was important, so I asked it first.

"The only limitations on what wishes can be granted are the limits of my own powers. For instance: I cannot alter the fundamental laws of this universe, nor create a universe apart from this one, nor separate any part of this one from the whole, nor breach the barriers that surround it; so you're stuck in this universe, and this universe stays as it is now. I also cannot defy the will of the creator, nor trespass in his realms, nor surpass him in any way; so you can't become him and you can't get into heaven through me, and anything that he directly wills can't be messed with. Other than that, you've got free reign."

"What kind of consequences are there for these wishes?" Another important one.

"That depends more on what your wish is than anything else. There will always be a balance in the universe, there must be. That is one of the laws of the universe."

"A bit cryptic, but my question was badly worded. Can I think about this for a while? It's really a big thing to have come down on me all of a sudden."

"You may take as long as you desire to make your wishes, so long as you possess the lamp."

Okay, that was fine with me. "But what will you be doing in the meantime?" I asked him.

"I will remain at your side unless you order me to do otherwise."

"Would you explain that in more detail?"

"While you hold the lamp and have yet to be granted your third wish, I must follow any orders you give me, within certain guidelines. You cannot use this authority to fulfill a wish, but you may order me to perform menial tasks. And I have some access to my powers when following your orders."

Yet another thing to consider. "What if I told you to go out and enjoy the world for a while?"

He smiled pleasantly at me. "I haven't been able to do that in centuries."

"Then go and enjoy yourself. I'll call for you sometime tomorrow." And like that he was gone. I went to bed to sleep on it.

Al'Karab appeared in the small town of Grenico, on the eastern edge of the Italian peninsula. He still wore his suit, with the addition of a hat and a pair of dark sunglasses. He began walking up the docks, having arrived in a blind alley off of the wharf. It was early morning, and the fishermen were already out, having set off before dawn. Al'Karab came to a halt outside a brewery and dockside tavern, turning and entering the darkened den.

"We're closed." The barmaid called without looking up. She was wiping down the tables and clearing away the empty glasses from the night before.

"I'm looking for someone." Al'Karab replied. "His name is Barbaro Sulatate."

"Barby?" The woman asked, raising her eyebrows. "He's around back. Just head through the kitchen and down the hall." She went back to her chores without a second thought.

Ever the gentleman, Al'Karab thanked her and walked behind the counter and into the kitchen. Passing through that crammed space, he followed the directions and proceeded down the hall, exiting through the door at the end. He found himself in a walled in courtyard with a table and a few chairs set up. His old friend was sitting at this table, sipping out of a shot glass.

"I thought I felt you coming." Barbaro said. "I haven't seen you in a while. It's been what, four hundred years?" He was dressed casually in denim pants and a white shirt with hanging cuffs and a folded collar. He waved his hand and a bottle of wine appeared, sitting in a tray of ice along with two wine glasses with wide saucer rims. "Have a seat my old friend."

"It's been a long time." Al'Karab admitted, not yet taking the offered chair. "The freedom offered at the whims of my masters is fleeting and seldom given."

"Yet you are here now." It was a question.

"I'm not sure how to respond to that." Al'Karab sighed. "This new master is very young. In fact he is so young that I would have expected him to make a mistake already, but he hasn't. Instead he is more careful than any master has ever been, and much more clever. He asked me questions and gave me leave to enjoy myself."

"If he hasn't made any wishes yet, you can't know anything for certain."

"I have a feeling that his wishes will be as careful as his questions."

Barbaro gave a huff and finished his remaining drink in a single swallow. "Well have a seat; we have a lot to catch up on." Al'Karab smiled and pulled back a chair, relaxing against the wooden frame. "Things have been falling apart for a while now."

"The conflict is still being fought?"

"I think it has moved into the final phase. There aren't many beings left that are powerful enough to make a claim for the throne. You could, if you weren't bound, and maybe Terraos and Zeusus beside yourself. There are a few other candidates, Charon, Kabal, and Viscord."

"I know some of those names, but not others. Are all of them Greater Powers?"

"Yes, without a doubt. Their strength has been rising very quickly, and several hundred Powers have sworn themselves in support of one candidate or another, along with thousands of Lesser Powers. If even one of those candidates was forced to kneel to another, that pretender could overpower the rest one by one until nobody stood against them."

"A most precarious situation." Al'Karab admitted.

"And you being found after all this time makes it even more dangerous." Barbaro added. "Especially given the uncertainty of your new master."

"I am bound by the rules of the lamp." Al'Karab retorted. "Such laws are not easily thwarted, even if this master is smarter than others."

"It is a new age that we live in. So much has changed. Humanity is no longer a rising force subject to the whims of Greater Powers. They have become a force in their own right, through their knowledge and science. Do not underestimate them. Even beings such as they have the right to claim the vacant throne, should any of them dare to try."

Al'Karab laughed. "I never thought I should live to see such a day."

"They are not what they once were. And neither are we. We faerie and fae have our magic, while the humans have their technology. But the worlds are drifting apart faster and further than ever before. Nothing below a Greater Power can even make the crossing anymore. It may be that travel between Earth and Avalon will soon cease entirely." Barbaro cautioned. "Your imprisonment has done more than confine you; it has protected you from the changes that have afflicted the rest of our kind."

"What do you mean?"

"Though I am as potent as I have ever been, I find that my power has changed into something I no longer recognize. It is different, but still the same. I can't explain it any better."

"And this change has affected every Power?"

"None save you have gone untouched. Some have managed to adapt to the changes, while others failed and were destroyed, or else severely lessened in position. It created openings in the Hierarchy of Powers that rivals were quick to claim."

There was a steady drone in the distance. Al'Karab decided to ignore it.

"How could it ever have come to this?"

"We were forsaken by the enthroned god. He has abandoned us to our fate."

"But could we not have maintained without him? We did well enough before he came."

"But nothing has replaced him. Nobody has taken a position of authority in his absence, instead opting to divide the universe between themselves, grabbing as much as they can get away with. Without any authority to oversee the universe and hold judgment over the Powers, conflict was inevitable. Few Powers have been around long enough to remember the pantheons we once held, and the abandonment of the throne has given every Power the chance to become the enthroned god, if they have the means and the daring to claim it." He said.

"Why haven't you made your own bid for the throne?"

"And what would I do as the enthroned god?" He shook his head. "No, I'm content to remain as I am."

The drone had become much louder, getting closer and closer until it was nearly upon them. Al'Karab looked up in wonder at the machine hovering above them. "What's that?" He asked.

"Helicopter." Barbaro said acidly. "The crusaders have found us." Seeing the confused look on his friend, he tried to explain. "Remember what I said about humanity and their science. The arm of the church is dedicated to the task of destroying us. They hate us and believe that their god meant for them to eradicate our kind. They must have followed you here."

"I wonder what they would think if they knew their god was one of us?" Al'Karab said, ignoring the implied blame. The helicopter was circling the courtyard like a vulture, several hundred feet above the rooftops. But it was dropping fast.

"I don't think they worship Jehovah anymore. I think they have become so entrenched that they believe themselves to be divine."

"What a laughable concept."

"Nevertheless the threat they pose is quite real." Even as he spoke the helicopter slid to a halt just above the adjacent building, and five humans rappelled down to the rooftop.

They wore black garments that hid their faces and carried various weapons, which they immediately trained on the pair sitting in the courtyard. "Stay exactly where you are! Do not move and do not speak to each other! Follow my instructions and you won't be hurt." The figure on the far left shouted.

Al'Karab didn't quite know what to make of them. Surely their weapons couldn't hurt him? But he had to wonder at their confidence.

"It's been good seeing you again after so long." Barbaro said, turning to meet his eyes. "But I think it's time to say our farewells. Take care of yourself." Al'Karab merely nodded.

"I said no talking!" The man shouted. Then he saw one of his targets vanish. "What the fuck just happened!?" He asked. Al'Karab stood up and faced them. "Don't move!"

"As interesting as this is, I do have other people to see today." Al'Karab said, before taking his leave of them. The crusaders were left staring into an empty courtyard.

The leader looked back at his troops. "Get me a line to the inquisitor. He's going to want to know about this."

The morning came and I awoke with it. The lamp was sitting on my nightstand, where I had set it the night before. I decided that if I had gone crazy, I was too far gone to worry about it and might as well go along with the flow. If all of this was really happening, my whole life had just turned around. But for the moment I had to get ready for school, I did my morning routine and woke my sister so she could do hers. There was another half hour before I had to leave for school, and I was going to use the time to think about what I wanted to wish for. I already had some basic ideas.

All the material available on the internet suggested that I should word my wish like a lawyer words his dispositions. With precise and flawless detail. I needed to spell out in exact terms what I wanted to get. I spent some time thinking about this, and it occurred to me that there just might be a simplistic loophole to that problem. I would include a failsafe clause in my wish.

Another issue that the internet made clear to me was that three wishes were just too few to truly accomplish something worthwhile. So I would need to wish for something that allowed me to gain multiple things at once, or else wish for something that I could continuously benefit from.

My final solution was simple and elegant, in my fairly biased opinion:

I wish that I have, now and forever, the following powers; granted in the spirit of the wish; and as I intended for them to be: