Genie

Nine: Side Effects

Posted: 04 May 2016

~//~

Kai spent the night in daylight, on the other side of the world. As hundreds of tourists penetrated through his non-corporeal form in the middle of Times Square, the genie let himself absorb that soon, he would no longer be invisible. He'd have a real body tangible to more than his master. He'd be able to interact with more than his master, to make choices beyond his master's desires.

In front of him, a small child dragged quickly along by his father tripped and fell. The man picked up the crying child and continued on his way, unaware that his son was upset not because he was hurt, but because he'd dropped his superhero action figure.

Kai walked up, picked up the toy, and in the blink of an eye, caught up to just behind the father-son pair. He carefully placed it into the outstretched hands of the child who appeared momentarily confused by the sudden materialization of his possession, but was quickly smiling now that his figurine had been returned.

Moments like these were what had kept Kai's servile fate tolerable. The small acts of kindness he was able to perform because of his magic reminded him that there was a silver lining to everything.

A thought occurred to Kai then. Once he was free, what would become of him? Would he still possess his magic? Would he remain immortal? Did freedom mean that though the talisman would no longer lay claim over him, he would become fully spiritual in existence, unable to be seen, heard, or touched by anyone ever again?

Not knowing what he'd come from, Kai realized he had no idea what he would be going to when Ji Won made the wish. His fantasies of his past and hopes for his future were more or less one and the same, and so he'd always imagined his life post-genie as human. But if he was never human to begin with, then freedom would surely mean returning to whatever previous form he'd once held, right?

More and more questions piled on top of themselves as the weight of Kai's impending future loomed closer. He could feel his magic restoring little by little and knew that he was nearing the halfway mark. His tattoo would probably show three spokes out of the eight. When he reached full power, Ji Won would give him the one thing he'd always wanted.

Ji Won. Would he be able to see her...or rather, would she be able to see him once he was free?

A stab of pain, like a portion of his heart was being hollowed out, inundated Kai. He'd never felt emptiness like this before, but he knew he needed to see Ji Won.

It had become dusk in New York and according to the time on one of the big digital displays suspended on the side of a skyscraper, it was Monday morning in South Korea. He remembered that Ji Won was on a break from school so even though he expected her to still be sleeping at the hour, Kai meshed his surroundings together and once he'd pictured his destination, the blobs of color around him had turned to the familiar room of his master in the eastern hemisphere.

To the genie's surprise, Ji Won sat at her desk. Her back was to him so she hadn't noticed he'd appeared, but she seemed to be studying from the open textbooks in front of her. With an inaudible sigh, Kai teleported to her roof and lay on its shingles with the sun warming his skin overhead. He'd gotten his glimpse which assuaged the ache in his chest.

It was times like these Kai wished he could sleep to pass the time. He closed his eyes and tried to relax his mind, trying to get his body to slow its processes until he became unconscious.

It was impossible. His body didn't function like a normal human's. Magic was infused throughout his veins and arteries, sustaining him for perpetual consciousness.

There was mumbling below him in Ji Won's room that put Kai on alert, straining to hear the conversation taking place between his master and her mother.