Official Disclaimer: A huge whooping thank you goes to Mademoiselle Mirage for creating the basis of this story. The genie concept belongs to her. The story, up to chapter three (discerning the prologue), also contains excerpts of her writing. I would just like to thank you endlessly, Pam, for this golden piece of work, and I apologize for not being able to finish it sooner!

Three Wishes

Prologue

Once upon a time…

The girl with green hair and catlike emerald eyes ascended the steps with her chin tilted high. Instantly, Narumi recognized her as one of his former pupils. She was still pretty young, perhaps around twenty thousand years old. For one who was about to suffer the fate that had been dictated for her, Sumire truly appeared fearless.

He knew better. Narumi hadn't been taught her since she was a wee genie for nothing. He could see the greenish tints of her iris flickering and constantly changing shades. It happened years before, when she was panicking over a challenging exam question.

The two other genies following her both held an end of a coarse rope meant to bind her hands with. Narumi also recognized them as genies he had formerly taught. In fact, if he wasn't mistaken, Koko and Mochu had been in the same class as Sumire. Now, thousands of years later, they would help carry out her execution.

They barely wrapped the rope around her wrist once before she sharply snapped at them, "Yome, you use this rope to tie down furniture when moving lamps! You do not use it to tie my hands. Ever!"

The ever-beaming genie frowned. "Permy, you're already convicted under Degree 362 of the Law Book of Genies. Mochu and I have to constantly monitor your actions. Do you think it's really wise to—"

She punched him in the gut.

"I will decide what is wise for me," she grumbled while stripping her hands of the rope, "and what is wise for you. I remain a Genie Official until the moment I am executed, or have you forgotten, Yome? Now go get me a proper rope."

With a grunt, Koko left while Mochu remained on guard. Not that he needed to. Already hundreds of spectators with watchful eyes gathered.

Narumi watched as Sumire sat down casually, cross-legged, on the execution platform. He focused intently on her wrist, even squinting a bit. It took him a while to figure out what she was doing. Then, Sumire pulled a splinter out of her skin and flung it as far as she could.

A smile grazed his lips. Typical. Only Sumire would worry about a splinter days before her death.

A few more days passed, and now she was staring thoughtfully into the blade while rubbing her temples.

Mochu grumbled, glancing at his new golden watch. "What's taking him so long?"

Then, as if on cue, Koko ran up the stairs with a definitely smoother rope. Upon seeing him, Sumire strangely stood up and voluntarily held her arms out. Koko and Mochu made quick work of it. The rope was tied so tightly that Narumi had to wonder if the swap really made a difference.

"Come then," said Mochu.

"No," harrumphed Sumire. She shook off his clasp on her shoulder.

"It's alright. I'll walk her," Koko spoke up.

Jaw tight, Mochu gave a stiff nod.

Koko led Sumire right to the execution block. Narumi, however, noticed that when he strapped her head down, his head hovered suspiciously close to her ear. As she laid there he whispered no more than a few words before returning to his place at Mochu's side.

"Is she dying?"

Narumi turned around and gasped.

It was her! The child! She was very much like a seven thousand year old genie. Fixing her eyes on Sumire, the human girl watched fretfully with her hands clenched at her heart. A closer look told Narumi that there were tears in her eyes.

"What are you doing here?" he whispered frantically. "You can't be here. They'll find you. Do you have any idea how much you're wanted in this world?"

The tears fell, creating shiny wet trails on her cheeks. "They're going to kill her. It's not fair! She never did anything wrong. She made made me happy."

Now she fully broke out crying, hands covering her face.

Narumi couldn't help but reach out towards the girl. When he touched her, however, she flinched. Conflicted and slightly hurt, he quickly withdrew his hand.

A loud horn rang, and atop the platform the execution began. A Genie Official mysteriously donned in a black cloak and white mask stood adjacent to Sumire, facing the audience of genies. The scroll in his hands fell to the floor as he started reading.

"We are gathered here today to witness of execution of Sumire Shouda, for violating Genie Laws 12, 20, and 1096 by bringing—"

Narumi's attention was diverted when the child exclaimed, "ouch! My hand burns."

"—to all of the Genie Community. Punishment must be—"

"Let me see," he said. Excitement lit up his face as he took her hand and examined it, only to be disappointed when the palm was empty.

"—decapitation performed in Genie Square—"

"The other one!" she exclaimed, waving her right hand up into the air.

He nearly fell back when he saw a lamp on her palm. It was glowing bright crimson! Delicately, Narumi touched the lamp with a finger, only to be singed. A huge grin seeped onto his face. He felt like running and jumping and punching the air at the same time, all the while yelling "look, everyone, I found it!" for he'd just ascertained a phenomenon rumoured to exist since the beginning of genie time.

Up on the block, Sumire was trying very hard to refrain from squirming. Her eyes drifted to her own hands.

"—ore commencing, does anyone have any objections to the execution of Sumire Shouda?

Instantly, Narumi's hand shot into the air. He screamed loud enough for the entire city to hear, "I do!"

Serio's beady eyes scrutinized him. "Very well. State your objection."

"It's impossible to kill a genie if she still has a connection to her master. The mark of the genie will protect her from harm."

A wave of whispers broke out in the audience. Displeasure appeared on Serio's face.

"Is that all? A simple myth?" he sneered. "Yukihara, he claims we cannot kill her because of the connection. What do you say about that?"

The Genie King raised his hand, silencing every other genie present. His eyes fell upon Narumi. The latter felt inclined to bow, but remained as he was. Regretfully, Yukihira proclaimed, "Narumi, you must understand that the rule is the rule."

"As are the unwritten rules," Narumi protested, staring straight into the face of his king, "the ones that have been forgotten in time."

Serio laughed icily. "Unwritten rules, he says. Let the execution commence!"

The executioner, a man whose head was almost entirely wrapped in bandages, stepped forward. He was a very intimidating man, thumping his every step with the handle of his gigantic scythe. The entire audience watched in anxiety. Mothers covered up their children's faces. Hands were tightly held, and fingers crossed.

Sumire's eyes hardened.

Narumi never broke the stare he had with Yukihara. In fact, the determination in his eyes was increasing. As the executioner raised his axe, Yukihara was the first to look away.

Sorry.

He could almost hear the Genie King's apology, but it meant nothing now.

Just wait and see, Narumi thought, how wrong you are. How wrong you all are.

From beside him, the child whimpered and bit down hard on her lower lip. She clenched his hand tightly. For her, the pain was overwhelming.

Serio exchanged nods with the executioner. The bandaged man raised his arms, bringing the gleaming, enchanted scythe into the air.

The blade swung. And it cracked.

Time in Three Wishes will be measured by humans according to human time and genies according to genie time (1 human year = 1000 genie years). The conversion is as following: human time in days = genie time in years x 0.365.

Please review, fave, alert, and just enjoy the story. :)

-IndigoGrapefruit