In a Bottle... Ch. 07

[I will not force you to take on this onus if you do not agree willingly,] the genie admitted. [I would not ask anyone to take on a task that I believed had a higher chance of their death than their success. Yes, my chance of success would be much higher than yours, but you are not so helpless as you seem to have convinced yourself.]

"Do you really believe that?" Alan stopped the genie. "Nobody knows who Alan is. I don't have any special skills except my limited access to magic which I just explained to you isn't nearly the equal of a destruction magi."

[And yet here you stand,] the genie said. [Having battled with one from the destruction school; a clear contradiction to that statement.]

"And one of my genies had to die to push me into taking the life of that magi!" Alan choked on his words but forced them out anyway.

The Master Genie's expression was unreadable, its eyes remaining the pearlescent white of its natural state.

[I see that I was not just making assumptions about you. It is true that you care for the lives of others. Keep in mind that were I to die the djinni currently residing with you would need to find a way to repair their link to the leylines of magic. You would find your abilities greatly diminished, having access only to the magic you have allowed to take root within yourself, but the others feed upon magic in a way that you do not. Without it their souls would begin to weaken more each passing day.]

"I value lives which in turn value the lives of others. I still don't agree with the arrangement that you have forced them into," Alan remembered the first day he had spent with Misty. The dream he had. How he had helped her gain her freedom. He had secretly regretted not trying harder to do the same for the others, instead settling for keeping them bound to himself knowing that he would be a good master and not abuse them. It was still slavery. He could not deny the veracity of that fact.

"I don't think one human has the right to put himself above another. Likewise I don't believe that your genie caste system is as necessary as you attest it to be." Alan broke eye contact with the genie and gazed off into the blue shroud, looking in the direction he had last seen his harem. "I had no intention of doing anything beyond protecting them from the magi. I am not a diplomat, nor am I an assassin." Alan turned back to face the foreboding djinn and hardened his resolve. "If I do this for you, I do so on the condition that if I return successful you will free them from the bondage of the mantra. And you will consider finding a more modern system for all future genies."

[If you do this, you do it for others beyond only myself,] it replied simply.

The Master Genie reached up with a hand and grabbed hold of its face. Its eyes flared a brilliant yellow and it shrieked--a sound made all the more horrific by the unique quality of its voice, a chorus of screams all varying in intensity. Alan flinched back at the unexpected gesture. To see this stoic genie suddenly exhibiting such behavior made his muscles cramp up like he had been struck by lightning. He was afraid his heart might stop. He wanted to run. It continued to scream--if anything, getting louder--until a sharp crack like bone snapping ended the awful noise.

The Master Genie dropped its hand away from its face, breathing heavily. Where its left eye had been there was now an oddly shaped hole that seemed to be seeping with the blue mist. The genie held out its hand, opening it to reveal a small sphere of yellow so intense it could have been mistaken for the sun.

[This is an oculus,] it spoke finally through ragged breaths. [I promised that you would not be alone. As long as you keep it close to your skin I will be able to share all of your senses. An oculus must be freely given and willingly accepted. Will you...?]

The genie was visibly slouching and its outstretched hand trembled slightly from the pain. Alan gazed down at the little glowing ball of energy for the longest time, hesitating. When he reached out to touch it he felt a jolt of pins and needles shoot up his arm and yanked his hand back. He shook it trying to get the feeling back. Instead the stubborn numbness remained.

"Ah! How do you expect me to hold something like that?" he accused. "It's like hugging a porcupine."

[Our senses must become attuned. I believe it is only temporary,] it replied. Alan noticed the genie had started to shake its hand in the same manner, mirroring him.

"What do you mean you believe? You don't know?" He asked, somewhere between disbelief and fear.

[I do not. I have never before made an oculus. It is extremely painful and exhausting. I have only learned of them from another, a djinn who is no longer with us. I am uncertain even of their limitations. I only know the way in which they are created. Still, I would rather endure this to help you with my task than take even a slight risk of having my soul stolen.] It nodded towards the outstretched hand and repeated, [Finish the process. I believe the attunement period is temporary.]

Alan held his hand above the genie's, moving carefully and with a great intent that only comes from excessive numbness. Finally he lowered his palm and grasped the oculus tightly. Immediately the strange feeling of pins and needles returned, eventually covering his entire body like millions of tiny biting insects. After a few uncomfortable moments the numbness came like a cool wave in the ocean. As strange as it was to not be aware of his own body Alan welcomed the numbness after the initial pain. He glanced down at his feet to make sure he still had his balance and wasn't falling over, but they were still mostly obscured by the blue haze.

Alan watched the genie while he waited for the process to complete. He imagined the numbness was a benefit after having torn out a piece of itself. The genie still seemed a little worse for the ordeal--its shoulders slumped forward and head hung much lower than when it had first arrived. After a moment he felt a warming sensation spreading through his body like a gulp of hot cider on a cold winter day. It quickly banished the numbness--which Alan tested by flexing his hand and rubbing his fingertips together. The genie palmed the side of its face gingerly.

"Thank you," Alan said, feeling the need to break the awkward silence. He held the shining orb up for closer inspection. "I will keep it with me. Although I was not expecting something quite so drastic, I feel safer knowing that you will be watching me."

[Not only watching. I am now also able to feel and hear as you do. Even now I feel the anxiety in your stomach and the resolution in your heart. I must rest for now.] The ominous Master Genie turned to go, its voice fading as it walked away. [When you do not believe in yourself, remember that there are those of us who still do. No longer are you only Alan Castillo.]

Before he could think of anything else to say, Alan found himself looking around at nothing more than the beach once again--the blue fog disappearing as quickly as it had arrived.

Alan hurried over to where he had last seen his genies, relieved to find them unchanged. Magik and Lucky still romped through the shallow waves of the ocean, breasts straining at the fabric of their bikini tops with every bounce. Carmella and Misty had taken him up on his offer to get some food. Misty saw him jogging over and smiled. He loved that smile. He knew that smile was just for him.

When he reached them, Alan threw his arms around her in a half-tackle, half-hug. When Carmella turned and saw them embracing she came over and Alan reached out with an arm and pulled her in as well. They remained silent as he held their cool bodies against his chest, the oculus still clutched in his fist.

"Thank you for being you," was all he said, and he took them over to pick some food out of the cooler.

- - -

Alan did his best to enjoy the relaxation of the beach, but his nerves never really calmed down after his encounter. He hadn't expected magic to find him so far away from home. They still had fun playing in the waves, they dug a hole and buried Alan, and made sand sculptures, but eventually the sun began to set and their fun had to end. Everyone threw on a T-shirt to ward off the chill creeping into the air and packed their things up in the car.

Once they had put some miles of asphalt between them and the beach a light banter started up. Talk between the genies about how much fun the beach had been, how they already missed the warm sand under their feet, and how much attention they had gotten from the other beach go-ers. Alan was driving on autopilot, still thinking about the Master Genie and only partially listening.

"...was staring at you? His girlfriend..."

"...think she was just as attracted to us as he was!"

"...rubbing the sun tan lotion all over you and she..."

"...that she hit him pretty hard! He'll think twice before letting his eyes wander..."

The backseat was overcome by a chorus of giggles, and Alan was drawn out of his daydreaming when he realized they were talking to him.

"Sorry. What's that?" he said over his shoulder.

"We just wanted to thank you for picking out such nice swimsuits, master," Carmella said. "I think everyone else enjoyed them too."

He reached an arm back between the front seats to rest his hand upon her bare thigh.

"You are all quite welcome," he smiled with an affectionate squeeze of her leg. "I can't have my harem spending the day at the beach without showing them off a little, now can I?"

"I believe that you got more out of it than anyone at the beach did," Misty retorted with a chuckle. "Still, skimpy clothing and jesting aside, thank you. That was a wonderful idea. I love the sand."

"I had to get out of the house. I still haven't been able to shake that feeling." Alan paused for a long moment while he considered how to phrase his next question. "Have any of you ever met a Master Genie?"

Misty quickly turned to look at him, searching his face for deeper clues beneath his question.

"I have not. Most djinni do not interact with one another for long periods, especially ones so much more powerful than the rest of us. Why do you ask?"

"Lucky? Carmella? Magik?" He asked, ignoring her question for now.

"Nor have I, master," Carmella responded.

"Me either," Magik stated.

"Nope," Lucky said simply.

Alan put his hand in his pocket and rubbed his thumb along the smooth surface of the oculus. The silence stretched on until he felt it begin to grow thin. Alan chose to break it before Misty had a chance to reiterate her question.

"What do you know about the master genies, Misty?" He asked.

"Honestly, I know very little, master. They are a secretive bunch. As I said they don't interact much with the lesser djinni. I do know that they are still around though."

"How do you know they're still here if you haven't ever seen any of them?" He pressed, doing his best to keep one eye on the road and pay attention to Misty at the same time. The other three in the back of the car had gone quiet.

"We are connected through the flow of magic. It is because we lesser djinni were created by the master genies that we are able to use magic with such proficiency to begin with. We are instilled with it as a part of our life essence. Magic is drawn into us through a process most refer to as 'The Melding.' After that our magic flows through them, much like yours seems to flow through Magik," she explained.

"How does this melding process work, exactly?" He asked.

Misty frowned at him and shifted uncomfortably in the passenger seat. "I am sorry, master. I don't have any knowledge of the details of The Melding. Anything I could offer would be third hand accounts at best, little more than rumor."

"Hmm, alright. What about this link then?" He continued, hoping to at least verify some of what he had heard earlier from the Master Genie. "You said you are connected to the master genies?"

"Not to all of them. Only to the one who created me. Our magic flows back into them when we grant a desire and they feed us the energy we need to sustain ourselves. It is a cyclical process--the core of the mantra. The master genie is the primary master, even when we are bonded with another master to grant a desire, and we are unable to disobey either one."

"So you are free... but you still feel the bond with your master genie? Could we follow that link until we find a master genie?" He reasoned.

"It does not work in that manner. Trying to follow the flow of your magic would be similar to attempting to follow the air molecules of the last breath you exhaled." Misty hung her head. "I am sorry that I am so unhelpful, master," she said in a small voice.

Alan realized how much it still bothered her to feel like she could not adequately fulfill his desires. She was practically wringing her hands and refused to make eye contact with him. He decided that he should just drop the whole thing. This line of questioning was only going to end with her crying. He reached out with his free hand and hooked her chin with his forefinger, gently lifting her face back up to look at him.

"Hey, don't worry about it. It was a stupid idea. We don't need to go find a master genie. Forget I said anything. Okay?"

He glanced away from the road and into her eyes. They glimmered back at him like a pair of stolen rubies. She nodded.

Alan knew that she had suspicions, but he wasn't sure that he wanted to tell his genies about his meeting with the Master Genie yet. He felt like the situation had become complicated and he needed time to sort it out by himself. It might have been only in his mind, but Alan felt more distant and awkward for the rest of the drive home.

- - -

When they got back it was long past dusk. Alan reached to open his front door only to find that he didn't need to unlock it. The handle hung at a strange angle and a piece of the door frame was missing. He paused with the key in his hand and pressed his fingertips quietly against the door. As the door swung inward he could see matching white splinters of wood scattered across the carpet.

He immediately held his hand up to silence the four women and let them know they needed to stay behind him. Instinctually he crafted an enchantment to sound identical to his voice and threw it back to the end of the hall where the bedrooms were.

"Hello... hello?" It repeated, his own voice echoing back at him.

The five of them waited for what seemed to be an excruciating amount of time. No reply came to the disembodied voice. No fire and lightning, no bullets, no crazed homeless person with a knife. Everything was quiet.

Alan still didn't trust the situation. Someone had obviously broken into his home. Nothing appeared to be missing or broken. He took a couple of steps into the entryway and thrust both hands out forward quickly as he sharpened his mind's eye.

The walls between the living room, kitchen, and both bedrooms peeled away from reality like frightened children running to hide under the bed. They all seemed to recede back into the surrounding framework of the apartment, leaving the floor space wide open. Alan's eyes searched the area, darting around quickly. There was still no sign of any intruder, damage, or even anything really out of place.

He relaxed a little and released his enchantment, the walls suddenly reappearing in their proper locations. Alan realized he was holding something and glanced down. The oculus was gripped tightly in his fist, its yellow light ever spiraling inward--the infinite cascade. He wondered briefly if the Master Genie knew what he was thinking. It wasn't out of the question. If it could see what Alan was doing and feel his heart pounding in his chest as he searched his apartment, it likely had a good idea.

After scouring the rooms a second time Alan replaced the oculus in his pocket and retrieved the genies waiting anxiously outside.

"They seem to have gone for now," Alan said escorting them inside. "Who knows when they will be back though. If it really was the magi who broke in here like I was afraid of I'm sure they'll be searching for us elsewhere by now. Hopefully we will be safe tonight."

Alan shut the door behind them before realizing that it was mostly pointless. He went and got a chair from the kitchen and braced the back of it against the door. He stared at it for a moment and then went to his bedroom and got a couple handfuls of the larger books from his bookshelf to stack them on top of the seat of the chair and weigh it down.

When he got back with the books, however, Misty had moved his chair and was inspecting the doorknob. Alan set the books down and noticed that it was no longer dangling at an awkward angle. She looked up at him then and shrugged her shoulders.

"I thought that it might just be easier to fix the door than build a barricade. Did I assume incorrectly, master?"

"Not at all, but..." He looked down at the ground and noticed that the chunks of the door frame were no longer strewn about. "I suppose I forgot that you have access to more magic than simply the illusory. Thank you. That wasn't something that I was looking forward to dealing with after driving for so long today."

"Of course. Even with my powers diminished around you I am able to handle things like this with ease. I am glad that I could be helpful after all," she said.

"You are always helpful, Misty," he reassured her as he reached an arm around her shoulders for a quick hug. "I think I'm more tired than hungry after today. Are any of you opposed to skipping dinner and just going to bed?"

Lucky and Carmella shook their heads.

"We do not require food in the same manner that you do, master," Magik reminded him.

"Right," he said, rubbing his eyes with the heel of his hand. "Well, there is still one more thing that I think I need to do. Why don't you all go lay down and I'll see you in the morning?"

They each gave him a hug and bid him goodnight as he passed by on the way to his room. He grabbed his phone and shook the mouse on his computer to wake up the screen. He had been thinking about the best way to try and find the magi for the last hour or two of their drive home and figured the best option was to try and go through Brock--the first person he had heard make any mention of them.

He sifted through the folders on his desktop until he found the one labeled 'Misc Junk'. Inside he found an old text file that he had kept for years with phone numbers and contact information for his friends. He found the name he was looking for and punched in the number, hoping that Dan still kept the same cell phone number from when they had graduated high school.

After two rings the line crackled to life.

"Hello?" A voice answered.

"Double D, long time no see, man," Alan greeted.

"Hey, Al?" He asked, recognizing the nickname. "Yeah, helluva long time, brother. Wasn't expecting to hear from you. Sup?"

"I hate to not talk or anything for such a long time and then call you up asking for favors, but I'm kind of in a bind, dude. There's a lot of crazy going on right now that you wouldn't believe even if I tried to explain it to you."

"I'm all about crazy," Dan chuckled. "You know I gotcher back, brother. You got bad blood comin after you?"

"No, well, sort of, I guess, but not like you're thinking. Are you still selling?" He asked, approaching things in a roundabout way. Dirty Dan--a nickname he had earned by being a huge pervert around all the girls on campus--had actually been one of Alan's closest friends back in school. He had been caught with a baggie of hydrocodine pills that he had planned on selling. Alan knew that if he had to go talk to the principal again he would likely get expelled, so he intervened and told their science teacher that he had stolen them from his mom's medicine cabinet.