The place was dark and eerily quite. As he walked in, not even the door's movement made a sharp enough noise to penetrate the heavy silence that hung over the room like a fog. The man walked in, step by step moving further into the foreign place. His heart beat quickened with adrenaline as each step seemed to bring him closer to something worse than what he'd left outside. Light from an open window and the dim lighting of a lamp here and there were the only things keeping this place from complete darkness. The lights illuminated the dust in the air and every surface was coated in a thin white layer of what dust had settled. This was a lonely place. Empty and forgotten, and it seemed it had been for some time. There were a few shelves, here and there a few books that looked as if they'd been recently taken and put back. But over all the place looked like any of it's brothers. Small bookshops like these were a dying race. Soon they would be all but forgotten and left behind for the convenience of a portable electronic story. That was humans. Always looking for a faster easier way to do things. That was the reason, after all, the ones like him had been created. Genie and his fellow story characters, they'd all been written in an attempt to give people the feeling of an easy, perfect, happy ending life without actually having to go out and live it for themselves. It was almost...sad...
Genie continued moving further into the shop. He could feel the magic that was in the air. Smell it even. It was a light sort of bitter smell. Old magic, like his. But stale. This magic hadn't been used in centuries. He frowned. For whatever reason, this magic had sit idle long enough to stink, losing it's sweet, tangy aroma. The wielder of this magic had probably long ago forgotten what it was supposed to smell like, feel like, sound like. If he'd gone so long without it, there was a good chance he would not want to pick up the practice again, even for something like this. It was an even more plausible reality that he'd forgotten how to use it altogether. Praying this wasn't the case, the man continued further still into the building until he'd reached the back wall. There he could hear the faint sounds of movement coming from the other side.
"Merlin?" he called, looking for the door that would lead him to the other side of the wall and to the man he'd come here to see. "Merlin! If you don't come out here yourself I'll make my own door and go in after you!" He doubted it was much of an argument, but Genie could feel the magic's power in his belly fluctuating. He didn't want to have to use it any more than he had to. If a genie lost his power, he was nothing. Gone. Poof. Even a free genie was no more than a puff of smoke without the magic that made him who he was. If he lost his magic...there went everything else with it...
Merlin knew he was coming even before the man knew it himself. He'd been trying to ignore it for days now. But now it was impossible. That shift in the air. That change in the way the night settled over the earth. No one else noticed it. How could they? They were just mortals. They had no awareness of things like this, and if he told any one of them they'd discount him as a madman. A lunatic fit only for an asylum. Madmen in his time were outcasts, the butt of every joke, the ones blamed when crops failed or children died or wolves attacked the sheep, and the ones who always hanged for it. Come to think of it, now, that hadn't really changed... All the more reason for him to have kept the information to himself. It wasn't like the feeling he got was necessarily bad, anyway. Strange. Threatening. Powerful and full of potential to completely tear apart the fabric of this world and several others due to a disrupting molecular shift in their make-up... But that really was hardly anything to worry about. Mortals had much bigger things hanging in the balance. Like the next celebrity guest on that tv show Glee, or when Lindsay Lohan would be in rehab next. So he'd sat in his small apartment over the antique shop, making himself cup after cup of Earl Gray tea and watching the Weather Channel. They were having a marathon of Storm Stories. So far there'd been five tornado episodes, three hurricane episodes, and six thunderstorm episodes. He was wondering to himself how these didn't get repetitive when he felt that shift in the air shift itself right into his shop.
He was sitting in a backroom, his office, drinking another cup of tea and watching the show on the tiny tv he had, when he felt it happen. Old magic. Ancient and as old as the gods themselves. It had been decades since he'd last even acknowledged his own powers, and yet with another of his kind so close all of a sudden, Merlin felt them stirring weakly in his gut. He smothered them down, stifling them back into silence, but even as he did that he could feel the change in his consciousness. It widened. It expanded. And slowly, he found himself turning his head in the direction the man was coming, and he whispered, "A genie."
As if the other man could hear him, the genie suddenly called out his name, threatening to make his own door and go in after him if he didn't come out himself. Merlin glanced at the closed and locked door to his office, sighing a little as he weighed the options. The genie's magic was old and powerful, he could sense that, but Merlin doubted the genie could hold his own against him, a man who'd been blessed by the Goddess. But then again, that Goddess was long-since dead, and he hadn't used his powers to so much as conjure a tea-cozy in many years. He might try to lock the genie in a cave and end up dressing him in a wedding gown. "Blast it all," he muttered, finally standing and going to the door. He opened it and instantly his eyes locked with that of the other man. A natural draw to each other, encouraged by their ancient powers. But Merlin ignored that, looked the man up and down, then bluntly went, "What kind of genie are you, you don't have a tail. And you're white."
It had been a very long time since Genie had ever met someone even remotely close to as old as he was, so to see this man now, to feel the magic burning between them... It was a good feeling and one that he readily welcomed, even if it was painfully obvious the wizard was not so open to him. Still, when asked the question, Genie laughed good-naturedly.
"We don't all look alike, Wizard, which I hope is the case for your kind too. If all of you looked like that, I'd be filing a formal complaint with the big boss." Pointing up at the ceiling to suggest to whom he referred. But his failed attempt at humor in a dark time like this was met with silence. So he continued, more seriously. "I am the one they call Genie. A djinn and freed companion of the sultan, Aladdin, son of the King of Thieves. I'm sure you've heard the stories. And you are Merlin, wizard of the kings." Genie stepped closer to the wall, looking over his shoulder at the rest of the shop. It was empty now, but there was no telling who might come in at any moment. He needed to speak with Merlin alone. These were serious problems that needed to be dealt with, and as old and powerful as his magic was there was no way he would be able to fix this on his own. He wasn't even completely sure what he was dealing with.
Reaching out his hand towards the door, he let the familiar cool feeling of his magic pour through him. He pictured in his mind what exactly it was he wanted. Easily, in less then a second, the locks on the door had been bolted and the curtains drawn. The shop became instantly darker, but Genie didn't have time to worry about that. He snapped on two lights, shining out of no where in particular, then turned back to the wizard, feeling more secure now about speaking on the matters at hand. "I wouldn't come to you unless it was absolutely necessary. I'm afraid there's no one else to turn to right now." He took three steps closer to the old man. "The fourth wall has broken down. The crack that was left by it's creators, the very one that you and I both have traveled through, has spread throughout the entirety of the wall. I saw it for myself only moments ago. It's pulling through everything from our world into this one. I saw several fall into this world with me. There's no telling what damage could be done if the mortals were to find out about our world. The wall needs to be fixed, Merlin. Now! Say you'll help me?"
Merlin stood and listened and watched, while the genie went on and on explaining what happened and used his magic at the same time, kicking up dust and making the shop even thicker and mustier than before. He just stood and listened and watched when the genie explained that the Fourth Wall had broken and pulled people from the other world into this one. There was no telling the damage that would be done if people from this world found out about the other. Merlin knew that was right. The people of this world were panicky, easy to rile up, difficult to calm, prone to dramatic fits of paranoia and fear. If they found out what had happened here, he would be forced to deal with a hell unlike any he'd ever seen. And Merlin had seen his fair share of hell. He lived it every day. His blue eyes blinked, went a little sad, and then his lips parted and his head lowered somewhat. The genie was right. This was bad. This had to be undone, now, before things got any worse.
There was only one problem. Merlin looked back up at the genie after a moment and then said in a surprisingly firm, steady voice, "The Fourth Wall was formed by magic older and more powerful than either of us. It separates the humans from things they cannot comprehend, things that would frighten and panic them until they destroyed each other. No one remembers who formed it - some say it must have been the gods, who are now dead themselves. And neither you nor I are gods, genie." With that he turned back around and went into the office in an almost dismissive manner, yet he left the office door open. The genie could follow him or not, Merlin didn't really care. It wouldn't change the outcome of this matter, no matter how dreadful it truly was. When he heard the genie hurry in after him, though, he turned back around to face him again. "You ask me to help you fix the Wall. It can't be done, genie. It just... can't. The Wall was built to last forever, there were no plans or safety nets built in case it failed. It was never supposed to fail. There's nothing either of us can do except sit here... wait..." He paused there, looking down at the tea he'd almost forgotten. A smile suddenly came to his face and he took the porcelain cup into his hand, raised it to the genie as if in a toast, and then took a sip before going on.
"And enjoy some lovely English tea. I wish I'd stuck around England long enough to see it's introduction in the 1400's. I love tea. Would you like some?"
Merlin's argument was less compelling to the genie then he supposed it would have been to anyone else.
"Legend dictates your own magic is from the gods, Wizard. And I myself am a demon, equal in power to most of the gods. More importantly, though their power is weakened and their eagerness to help all but gone, Zeus and his court of Greek gods and demigods are very much alive. Even though they may be unable to lend us help in the repair itself, they may provide insight into finding a solution. If you and I were to combine our powers, together we may have more of a chance at fixing this than you say." He doubted his words were any good. This man was crazy! He didn't sound like he cared one inch about what would happen to anyone out there. If the humans reacted, if the others retaliated, if all hell was set loose and Hades himself walked the streets of New England, Merlin seemed to want the world to believe he would sit alone in his office and contentedly sip his tea. And maybe he would. All Genie knew of this man were the legends and stories told by the most admiring fans among the magical realms. One being Cinderella's own fairy godmother, who had a taste for unreliability and elaboration. Genie wasn't sure what he could trust of the knowledge he had if this man. But one thing he was sure of. No one, not even the worst of villains, could live so long amongst the humans, see all of both their good and their bad, and not at least feel some compassion for the good still struggling to survive in them. Merlin had to help. He just had to. Genie couldn't do this alone, and he wanted to believe Merlin wouldn't make him have to try.
Merlin spoke almost immediately after the genie fell silent. "First of all, genie, do not call yourself a demon. I have seen demons, I have dealt with demons, I was nearly seduced by a demon when I was a young man - You, genie, are no demon. If you were, you'd be finding a clever way to kill me with my teacup instead of standing here begging me to help you save the cosmos." He stopped there, blinking to himself as heavy thoughts settled in his mind and shadowed his eyes. No... No, this genie was no demon. He may have been formed as a djinn, a supernatural creature with phenomenal cosmic powers that existed only to grant wishes for mortals in order to gain freedom (thus making him very sneaky and instinctively selfish), but there was no evil in him. One part of his magic Merlin had never been able to repress or ignore was something every living human had. In his time it was a universal power that bound everyone together, mortals and witches and wizards and everyone. Nowadays, it was known simply as intuition. Instinctual feelings that might lead you to the truth, but couldn't be trusted for their own sake. Merlin knew differently. Intuition was only a shadow of what each mortal held inside them. If any of them cared anymore to explore it, expand it, they would find it was more akin to a natural and powerful lie detector. He had never been able to suppress that inside of himself, and it came in handy now even though he'd never admit it. No, this genie was no demon. He was possibly one of the purest souls ever to walk this earth.
But Merlin wasn't telling him that. Instead the older man blinked again and sighed heavily, turning away slowly and shuffling back towards his tv. "I know of those Greek gods. Zeus. Hera. Aphrodite. Dionysus. They wouldn't help us if we begged, genie. The fate of humanity is no longer their concern. Going to them would be a waste of time we do not have. You want to save these worlds? Leave well enough alone. Give humanity that much more time to believe nothing is wrong."
Genie frowned in thought. Of course what Merlin said about the gods was true, but he didn't want to give up what little hope he had of trying to fix this before it got out of hand. Merlin said the only way to help was to leave well enough alone, as if that was more merciful than at least trying to save them first.
"What about the demi-god? Zeus's son. Surely he could speak with them. Get them to agree to help us, for his sake." He wasn't sure where the man was or what had happened to him, but he knew of Hercules and the great things he'd done. And he knew of the woman he loved and the friends he'd made. Surely to save all of them he would help. "We can't just give up, Merlin. It's not mercy to just let the Wall crumble! It's quitting. For whatever reason, laziness or cowardliness or heartlessness, it's still the same. I won't quit. I'll try, with or without you, but you know I can't do this alone." He stepped forward, trying to plead his case one last time. "You used to be the greatest wizard who ever lived. You used to help people. Please, Merlin. Say you'll help me." He doubted any words could get through to this man, but if he didn't try then there was no hope. He had to try.