Chapter 1: Perfect birthday gift
Sly has been rescued from ancient Egypt and he and Carm have been together for five years now. Right now Carmelita is planning what to give Sly on his birthday which is due in the day after tomorrow...
In the city of Paris, under the watchful eyes of Notre Dame a gray raccoon walked towards his apartment where his vixen girlfriend was waiting for him.
"She's surely thinking of what to give me on my birthday" the raccoon chuckled mentally.
Finally after a long walk the raccoon was finally standing in front of his front door. He took out his keys and opened the door. It felt strange for the raccoon to use the front door after all those year he'd been a thief. Yes, the raccoon was thief, a master thief named Sly Cooper.
"Honey! I'm home!" he called from the little entry.
Sly heard a soft yelp that he guessed he wasn't supposed to. It made him chuckled a little. And soon he heard several noises that indicated something being hided in a hurry. Sly lingered in the entry so that she would have time to "hide" everything from him.
"She's terrible at hiding things, especially from me" he again chuckled inwardly.
After the noises ceased there was a series of soft footsteps approaching and soon in front of the raccoon stood a blue haired vixen with amber eyes. She was wearing jeans and a dark grey top and was on bare feet.
"Carmelita, you look even more beautiful than when I left" Sly complimented suavely with a charming smile playing on his muzzle.
"It was only a few hours, Sly" Carmelita answered little dryly as she came to kiss/hug him.
"But it felt much more longer without you" Sly continued his smile never faltering.
"Oh, stop it Ringtail!" Carmelita laughed and kissed him again.
"What's for dinner today?" the raccoon asked.
"Chinese from the restaurant down the street" Carmelita answered little embarrassed.
"What's this? Did my darling Carmelita forget to make us dinner or was she little lazy?" Sly teased.
"I forgot" she admitted with a light blush gracing her cheeks, "I had things in my mind"
"And what things bothered my lovely vixen so much that she forgot to prepare dinner for us?" Sly asked again assuming his charming, suave behavior, "Not by any chance thought concerning my oncoming birthday, hmh?" he continued cocking a brow.
"N-N-no!" she quickly denied, "Why would you say that?"
"Come on, Carm. You know you're a terrible liar" Sly said to the fox who had averted her eyes from his.
"Fine, I have a perfect present for you but I'm having tough time keeping it hidden from you. Knowing your crafty nature the plan I've made might just 'happen' to fall in your hands" Carmelita accused while crossing her arms. (She has a bad habit of sketching and writing down her plans)
Sly gasped melodramatically and assumed a fake-hurt look.
"I'm hurt! How could you accuse me such?" he asked raising a hand to his chest.
Carmelita just smacked him lightly and answered: "Well, somehow all my other four plans have fallen to your hands in the previous years"
"You should take better care of your things when living with the world's greatest thief" Sly threw back his smirk returning.
Carmelita sighed in defeat and then hugged Sly.
"Sly, please, could you just go with it? I want to surprise you for once" she pleaded.
Sly was about to throw his usual remark but he happened to look Carmelita in the eye and saw that she was making the most cutest puppy dog eyes he'd ever seen. The glance made his heart melt and he didn't want to anything but fawn his vixen so he relented: "Fine. I won't even take a look at your plans"
"Yes!" she exclaimed, "Thank you, Ringtail. You're in for the best gift of your life" she assured.
"Now, let's go eat" Carmelita said pulling Sly towards the kitchen.
"Let's! I'm starving" Sly agreed eagerly. He hadn't eaten anything since morning and he had been working on a heist with a Bentley.
They entered the kitchen and Carmelita brought them two boxes of Chinese food and chopsticks. They began eating and finished the delicious meals in no time. Carmelita threw the empty boxes away and grabbed Sly's arm to pull him into the living room.
"Now, Sly. You're gonna stay here while I go and prepare for surprise and keep away from my notes" she emphasized.
"I will" Sly answered.
"Promise?"
"I promise, Carmelita my love" he assured.
"Thanks" she said and gave Sly a quick kiss before going.
Carmelita went outside and started walking.
"Now to Bentley" Carmelita thought.
Sly on the other hand was looking at the retreating back of the vixen from their living room window and was thinking hard of what she had planned for his birthday. Once Carmelita vanished from his view the raccoon went to lie down on the couch. He was very puzzled.
"What could it be this year?" he asked in his head.
While contemplating this his gaze happened to fall upon Carmelita's notebook which she had quickly tried to hide on among some newspapers. Sly pondered for awhile and did actually reach for the notebook until:
"Promise?"
"I promise, Carmelita my love"
"I promised her I wouldn't" Sly thought as he let his hand fall, "So, I won't"
Meanwhile Carmelita was walking towards Bentley and Murray's apartment (yeah they live together, of course) that they still called the safe house. Also they didn't pay for anything that they had in there such as their TV cable and it was remote so that no one couldn't even by accident stumble on it. Carmelita of course knew where it was so that he could visit them if she needed to like now. After they'd rescued Sly from ancient Egypt Murray had become a wrestler and he had also continued his racing career. Bentley on the other hand had started making invention and making money by selling them. The gang did occasionally pull off a heist just for fun although Sly always complained that it wasn't as fun as before because "Inspector Fox" wasn't there to chase him down. Yeah, Carmelita had resigned after the whole time travelling incident when she finally saw Sly again in ancient Egypt Carmelita was so happy that she realized that working for Interpol had always been just because she wanted to see Sly again and hear him complimenting her.
Carmelita was so deep in reminiscing that she almost missed the safe house. She immediately knocked on the door and soon there were very loud footsteps to be heard and the door opened revealing a pink hippo.
"Carmelita!" he chimed merrily as he grabbed the vixen in bone-crushing hug.
"Murray... I can't breathe" she protested weakly.
"Oh, sorry" Murray said and quickly put Carmelita down.
"It's nice to see you too" she grumbled casting a glare which made hippo flinch a little, "Is Bentley around? I need your help with something"
"Sure! he's right here in the lab" Murray said and led the vixen to the laboratory.
The lab had a lots of different equipment for chemistry, physics and technology (it's technically part of physics but whatever). Carmelita's eyes swept over the whole room until she noticed the device she needed: The time machine.
"Hello, inspector" greeted a nasally voice.
The title made the vixen sigh a little.
"Not in a long time Bentley" she answered bringing her hand to her hips.
"Sorry, old habits die hard" the turtle sitting in a wheelchair said apologetically.
"I guess I can let it go. Just this once" Carmelita smirked that was what she always said to the turtle when he called her inspector.
"I'll try to remember better" Bentley answered.
Carmelita nodded.
"Good" she said.
"So, what brings you to our humble abode?" Bentley asked.
"I need your help" Carmelita answered, "I need to visit Salim in ancient Arabia"
"What? Why?" Bentley asked astonished.
"I need his help with Sly's birthday gift" Carmelita told them simply not wanting to give out any details.
"What are you giving him?" Murray asked.
Carmelita didn't want to tell them so she remained silent until Bentley asked: "Don't you trust us?"
"As a matter of fact I don't. That Ringtail has somehow managed to learn of my every plan for his birthday and someone has told him about it and I've always told the plan to you two" Carmelita knew that they didn't really tell Sly about her plans because they still feared her knowing that "Inspector Fox" could quickly replace Carmelita but she needed an excuse not to tell them.
"We swear we've never told him any of your plans" Bentley quickly reassured.
"Hmph" she huffed in response, "Will you help me or not?"
"We will" Bentley said, "Murray take the time machine to your van, please"
"I'll have to assemble it again. It'll take about half an hour" Bentley informed her before taking some tools with him and wheeling to the garage.
Carmelita was left alone in the lab and she started to circle around it looking at different things Bentley had made. She came across a door that read costumes on it. Curious Carmelita opened the door only to gasp lightly. There was a large walk-in closet that held all of Sly's different costumes from his heists. There was the Venetian guard costume, photographer costume, pirate costume (which made Carmelita giggle a little) then there were the samurai armour, the striped prison costume (she was still upset that she didn't get to see Sly with it on), sabre-toothed tigers pelt, archer costume (which Carmelita had named Robin Hood costume), thief costume and Sly's own thief get up. Carmelita looked through all of them and after she had she turned to leave but a certain costume caught her eye. It had been behind the door so she hadn't noticed it when she entered. It was her old belly dancing outfit that she had used during one of the heists in Arabia. Carmelita went to admire it but was interrupted by Bentley who suddenly wheeled inside.
"Carmelita, we're done" he announced.
"Oh, ok" she answered, "Um... Bentley?"
"Yeah?"
"You kept the costume?"
"Sly insisted on it. He said he would yet see you in it again" Bentley told little embarrassed.
"Did he now? Hmm..." Carmelita said narrowing her eyes in thought.
Bentley interpreted it as a sign for her famous temper rising so he quickly went back to the van muttering something about finetuning. Carmelita stayed there looking at the belly dancer outfit deep in thought.
"Well, why not? It's his birthday and I'm gonna need some sort of disguise in there..." she pondered and after making up her mind she closed the door and undressed quickly and put on the belly dancer outfit. There wasn't a mirror in the room so she couldn't admire how it looked on her but she knew it was sure to make Sly's jaw drop.
"Although he might not focus on my outfit if my plan works..." Carmelita thought smiling a little.
"Carmelita!" Bentley called from the garage.
"Coming!" she answered.
Carmelita walked to the garage. Once Bentley saw her he almost fell off from his wheelchair.
"I guess Sly gets to see you in it again" he said after getting over the first shock, "May I ask why?"
"I need something to blend in and I don't think my normal clothes from here are gonna cut it" she answered.
"You're probably right" Bentley said, "Are you ready to leave?"
"Sure" Carmelita said and hopped into the back with Bentley.
Murray started the engine and drove out from the garage and out of Paris to the freeway.
"Ok, Murray. Step on it" Bentley said as he threw the coin they'd used last time into the container and started up the machine.
Murray accelerated and sparks flew as the time machine threw them into the blue vortex of time and space. Murray let out a sigh and looked at the two on the back. And it was like he hadn't noticed Carmelita's outfit until now. He froze when he saw her and she noticed this.
"Hey! Eyes on the...um... vortex" she said unsure about what to call the space they were in now.
The comment snapped Murray out his trance and he blushed as red as tomato and quickly averted his eyes forwards. After that little incident they just sat in silence waiting for the time travel to be over. Soon enough the vortex faded and they arrived at ancient Arabia where Salim al-Kupar dwelt.
"Do you want us to come with you?" Bentley asked as Carmelita hopped out.
"No, thanks but can you tell me where Salim is? I really don't want to look him here" she answered.
"Sure. We left the earpieces to the ancestors in case we'd have to come back and find them quickly" Bentley told Carmelita as he started typing on his laptop.
"That's great" Carmelita said little absent-mindedly.
She waited there for a moment until Bentley said that he'd found Salim.
"He's on the ship we first met him. Do you know where it is?" Bentley asked.
"I think I do. Thanks" Carmelita smiled, "By the way Bentley, you'll have to bring Sly here on his birthday. Give him this once you're here" she continued pulling out an envelope and handing it to the turtle.
"What is it?" he asked.
"A clue where he'll start looking for his present" Carmelita answered mysteriously.
"Ok, I'll give it to him" Bentley assured.
"Thanks" she said, "I'll go find him before he goes somewhere"
"Ok, bye and be careful" Bentley said.
"Bye, Carmelita" Murray said from his seat.
"Bye bye, you guys! Remember to bring Sly here on his birthday" she said to them.
She watched them accelerate along the beach and vanish in flash of blue and white. Once they were gone Carmelita started making her way to the ship where Salim had first been found by Sly. She almost got lost on the way but fortunately she remembered that it was near the palace. After locating the palace Carmelita scanned the area and saw the ship still in the same place, slowly rocking on the waves. The vixen quickly ran to the ship and jumped onto the deck and knocked on the door of the captain's quarters.
"Who's there?" called a little annoyed voice from inside.
"Open the door and find out" Carmelita replied.
For a moment nothing happened and Carmelita was about to say something else and knock again but then the door was opened and in front of her stood a old raccoon with a lightly purple fur and full Arabian get up.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"Come on, Salim. Don't you recognize me?" Carmelita asked then she remembered that she had a veil covering most of her face. She lifted and at the same moment Salim's face lit up in recognition.
"Carmelita!?" he exclaimed, "What are you doing here?" he wondered.
"I need your help for something. Could I come in?" she asked.
"Of course" Salim replied and stepped out of the way and after Carmelita had come in he closed door.
"So, what is it I can do for you" the raccoon asked.
"Well, it's Sly's birthday soon and I need your help with the present" Carmelita began.
"Is that so?" Salim asked, "Wine?" he offered.
"No thank you" Carmelita declined. He shrugged and poured a glass for himself.
"You were saying?" he coaxed her.
"Yes, I was hoping if you could... um..." she didn't really know how to say it.
"Yes?" he urged taking a sip of the wine.
"If you could... turn me into a genie of the lamp?" Carmelita blurted out.
Salim made a choking sound and spluttered the wine out from his mouth.
"What?" he asked astonished once he'd stopped coughing.
"I was wondering if you could turn me into a genie of the lamp... for Sly" Carmelita repeated looking away.
"I am not even going to ask how did you even thought to think of this or how you knew instantly come to me but I what I will ask is: Are you sure about it?" he confirmed.
"Will you...? Can you do it?" she asked incredulously. Carmelita hadn't really been sure if he could do it although she realized it only just now.
"I can and I will but only if you're sure about it" he said and Carmelita nodded.
"Do you know what will happen to you if you're made into a genie?" Salim asked.
"No..." she answered looking away again.
"It's best if I tell you then" he said.
"I'm listening" Carmelita answered.
"Genies are magical beings very different from us. There are very few genies in existence and they are old and weak in power" he began.
"How can a genie be old? Or weak?" Carmelita asked awestruck.
"It depends on how the genie has been born. All the genies that exist now have all been conceived from something only they know of. They are linked to the things they have been conceived of and if that thing were to weaken the genies will weaken with them" Salim explained.
"That's incredible" was all Carmelita could say.
"Very, but now about you. You would be the first mortal ever to become a genie and that would make you even more powerful than any of the genies that still exist have ever been. Your powers wouldn't diminish and you wouldn't grow old like the others because you have been made unlike the other genies who have been born" Salim told her, "There is a slight difference in this case" he answered to her confused look.
"Ok, so how would turning into a genie affect me and by the way how on earth do you know all of this?" she asked.
"I once did a great service to one genie who still had some power left in him. He rewarded me with certain things. Once those things was the Book of Genielogy. It tells many things about genies" he answered her other question, "And as for how it would affect you. I am not sure but some things I do know. You would of course gain immense powers only rivaled by those of an angel's or a god's or a demon's. Some rather nasty side effects would be that you'd become more volatile. Genies aren't very forgiving creatures and there are legends where they destroy entire mountains and dry oceans because of their wrath"
"Anything else?"
"Aren't you afraid?"
"I'll do it for Sly" she answered, "Anything else?"
"Well, now that you mentioned Sly. Becoming a genie would also make you more... um... how to say it... open-minded for some things considering a loving relationship with someone" Salim explained.
"What do you mean?" Carmelita asked confused.
"Well, it means that for example you love Sly more than anything, right" Salim "asked".
"How do you know?" Carmelita wondered she just realized that even if she was getting a present for him he shouldn't know about them.
"You don't turn yourself into a genie lightly. You must really want this for him" Salim smiled.
Carmelita nodded.
"In that case if Sly were to compliment someone else or perhaps do something more bold towards some other girl, how would you feel?" he asked.
"Probably jealous, betrayed and broken" Carmelita answered.
"As a genie you could see if a person truly loves someone else. You could always look at him and see that even if he did something like that he still truly loves only you. Also when genies fall in love their love is eternal as are they" Salim answered.
"Didn't you just say genie grow old?"
"They do but a genie cannot die unless it is killed by some other as powerful being. Those being some powerful angel, demon, another genie or possibly a god" Salim said.
"Are there angels and demons and gods?"
"The Book of Genielogy confirms that angels and demons exist but about gods... even they don't know" Salim answered.
"Right" she answered.
"So are you still sure about this?"
"I am" Carmelita replied, "What do I need to do"
"To become a genie there is four requirements. Enchanted flute, magic lamp and an enchanted symbol representing the 16th seal of King Solomon" Salim again explained. (The 16th seal of king Solomon is used to "Achieve the impossible and to make wishes and dreams come true")
"Where do we get all those things? And what's the fourth requirement?" Carmelita asked.
"Fortunately for both of us I already possess the flute and the symbol and the fourth requirement is to perform the ceremony where you will be made genie in the same place where the golden lamp is hidden" Salim told her.
"And where is that?"
"It is hidden away in the Cavern of Miracles. Far into the desert" he answered.
"How do we get there?"
"We will fly with my magic carpet?" Salim informed her.
"Where did you get it anyway?" Carmelita asked already guessing the answer.
"Compliments from the very same genie who bestowed the book" Salim told her.
"Let's go then" Carmelita said getting up.
"I'll grab what we need" Salim said and walked to closet and pulled out one average sized black box.
He brought it to the table and opened it. Carmelita took a glance at the contents. Inside were a small round symbol that had two lines going across it (the 16th) and between them were some small symbols she didn't recognize. Above the symbol was a long, golden transverse flute and finally there was another round symbol which had two lines that cut each other in the symbol's midpoint (the 19th).
"Why are there two symbols?" the vixen asked.
"This one is the 16th seal which you need to have on your person when we transform you into a genie and this one is the 19th symbol which we will need if we want to enter the Cavern of Miracles" Salim explained. (The 19th symbol "gives power to open all doors")
"How do we found it by the way?"
"There's a map on the inside of the lid of the box"
Carmelita hadn't even noticed it.
"Let's go" Salim said snapping the box shut.
Carmelita followed him outside to the deck. He had taken out a whistle and was blowing into it but there was no sound.
"What are you doing?"
"Summoning the carpet"
"Is the whistle supposed to let no sound?"
"Yes"
They waited for a moment and then there was a silent thump behind them. Salim and Carmelita turned around and saw a large carpet lying on the deck. Salim immediately sat on it cross-legged and soon Carmelita followed him and sat next to him.
"Towards east, as fast as you can go" Salim ordered.
The carpet immediately rose up and started to ascend and build up speed. Carmelita instinctively grabbed Salim's arm as the carpet accelerated.
"It's a magic carpet, Carmelita. One can stand and doesn't still fall, no matter the speed" Salim told her.
Carmelita hadn't even noticed the lack of air resistance until Salim said this. Soon however she got used to the feeling and actually enjoyed the feeling of weightlessness the carpet ride brought. But after awhile Carmelita got bored and started thinking about becoming a genie of the lamp and then a thought hit her.
"Salim? What's the purpose of the lamp?" she asked.
"No one knows. Not even the genies have any specific reasons why they usually like to use a lamp. Maybe they like it better than anything else" he answered shrugging.
"But what is it's purpose?" Carmelita asked again.
"They have no purpose. Most of the genies just chose a lamp and we have to use it because we need it's magical properties but if we had an enchanted bottle or something like that we could easily use it as well" Salim answered again then looked at Carmelita, "What are you getting at?"
"So, I won't be anyhow bound to the lamp even if I have one?" Carmelita asked.
"No! You won't and you don't have to bestow three wishes to anyone who rubs the lamp" Salim told her.
"I don't?" Carmelita asked surprised.
"No, you can if you want but you're no anyhow obliged to do it" Salim confirmed.
"Oh"
"Although, there's one thing about the lamp: Another genie can trap you into a lamp and then someone needs to rub it to let you out again but the genie who traps you needs to be at least equal in power to do it so you needn't to worry as I said the existing genies are all old and weak so none of them is able to do it" he told her.
And before Carmelita could answer the carpet started to descend.
"We're here" Salim announced, "Hand me the 19th symbol, please"
Carmelita carefully took the symbol and gave it to the elderly raccoon who took it throw it onto the ground.
"Apertum" he yelled. (Open in Latin)
From the symbol erupted a great light that quickly swirled to a vortex.
"Jump" Salim said.
"What!?" Carmelita asked incredulously.
"It's the entrance. Don't worry it won't hurt one bit. Jump" Salim said.
Carmelita glanced downwards and took a deep breath and then, she jumped. She fell directly into the vortex of blinding light and as she fell through it a sensation of weightlessness swept over her again but this time it was much stronger than the last time on the carpet and then suddenly, it was gone. It took her moment to register that she was again standing on solid ground. Soon she saw Salim land few meters in front of her. He looked around until he saw Carmelita.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
"I'm fine. How about you?" she replied.
"I'm too old for this but I'm fine"
Carmelita chuckled at his answer.
"What now?" she asked.
"We'll follow the cavern until we get to the lamp. If there is anything else down here do not touch it. It is the property of the genies and you're not one yet" he instructed.
"Understood"
There was a weak light that illuminated the cavern. Just enough that they could see. They started walking towards a great stone arch. Through it shone much stronger light and they got to under it they both gasped. Before them there were mountains of gold, jewels and different kind of artifacts.
"Remember, don't touch anything" Salim reminded her.
"You're thief of the two of us" Carmelita pointed out.
"Retired nowadays and aching all over" he retorted.
"Old habits die hard" she threw back.
Salim just shrugged in response and started walking again. They avoided the touching any of the treasure and soon arrived at another stone arch even greater than the last. They passed under it and looked around they saw trees in distance. Salim and Carmelita noticed that all the trees had different coloured leaves. Some were green, others blue, red, yellow and the farthest tree looked like it didn't have leaves at all. They started making their way towards them and once they got close enough they again gasped in unison.
"They're not leaves" Carmelita said.
"They're priceless jewel. Rubies, emerald, sapphires, topazes" Salim observed.
"They're beautiful but how can a normal tree grow gemstones as it's leaves?" Carmelita asked as if forgetting that they were in a cavern full of impossible things and were gonna make her a genie of the lamp.
"Magic" Salim said curtly.
"Oh, right. Stupid question" Carmelita answered.
They continued their way through the forest and after a moment reached the last of the trees that had looked leafless but now they saw that it had leaves, they were made of crystal so pure that it one could clearly see through it. Salim had to stop to admire it for a moment and with nothing better to do when waiting him she too turned to look the whole sight now behind them.
"It's beautiful" she thought, "Maybe I can create a forest like this too when I become a genie"
"Salim!" Carmelita called the old raccoon, "Let's go"
"Couldn't I stay for awhile?" he asked.
"I'll give you a tree like that once I'm a genie if you come here now" she said impatiently.
His head and ears perked skyward and he ran to Carmelita as quickly as he could.
"What are we waiting for then? Let's go" he said sounding more enthusiastic than Carmelita had ever heard before.
It made her giggle a little as they went through the last arch. It was even more greater than the other two and was made entirely of gold. Behind it was big,dimly lit room and in the middle of it was a small pedestal and on it was a golden lamp. Carmelita was lost in thought as she inspected the lamp. It looked nice in her opinion, like straight out of a fairytale. Small tug on her arms snapped her back to reality and she looked at Salim who had the flute in his hand and the other offering her the 16th symbol. Carmelita took it and looked at Salim.
"What now?"
"First you will hold the symbol in your left hand and go to take the lamp into your right hand. Then I'll start playing and you will belly dance. You do not stop dancing until I have stopped playing. This will activate the lamp and your transformation will begin. Once the lamp spits smoke then you have stop dancing for a moment and stay still no matter what but after you can move again continue the dance until I stop playing or until you again can't dance. Do you understand?" he asked and Carmelita nodded, "You will be sucked into the lamp and that where you will need that symbol. It forms the base of your power and you must hold onto it at any costs. Do you know remember everything?" he confirmed and Carmelita nodded again.
"Let's begin. Take the lamp to your right hand" Salim instructed.
Carmelita did as she was told and grabbed the lamp into her right hand. Salim started playing the flute and Carmelita started dancing. She danced, did spins, small jumps and other moves until the lamps spout started emiting pink, sweet odored smoke that quickly covered Carmelita. As the vixen was sucked into the lamp she felt like her body would've been pressed from every direction. Salim watched the whole thing happen and never stopped playing the flute even after Carmelita had completely vanished and the lamp had fallen onto the floor. He played and played until suddenly the lamp spat more smoke and it swirled into ball and started to fade away. After the smoke had cleared Carmelita's head was floating in the air without the rest of her body then the lamp generated a larger cloud of smoke that floated underneath Carmelita's head and slowly started to form a body like shape. Salim watched in wonder as the smoke condensed into Carmelita's body but then he realized one thing: Carmelita had not clothes on and Salim, being the gentleman thief he was, quickly closed his eyes. This made Carmelita thank God for the Cooper clans sense of decency. Once she could again feel her body Carmelita continued dancing according to Salim's instruction. She danced for a moment and the lamp exuviated two big clouds of golden smoke. Carmelita watched it consist to two vixen statues made of gold. She admired them for awhile until a sudden movement from the other statue made her recoil and retreat a few pas. Soon the statues came alive and approached Carmelita smiling kindly and she just stayed where she was, still dancing naked as the vixen came close and raised their hands simultaneously and there was a brilliant flash of light. After Carmelita could see again she noticed that on her was now a royal red belly dancing outfit with much of gold and different kind of jewelry. Carmelita thought that her hair felt odd and after another moment of dancing she quickly caught it. It was longer than it had been, not much but enough for her to notice. It had also been braided. Suddenly she noticed that the two golden vixens had started to shrink first they thinned remarkably until they were only as thick as a rope then they started to shorten and at this point Carmelita had danced closer to them. They continued to shorten until they were only about twelve inches long and then they suddenly wrapped around Carmelita's wrists. She looked at them for a moment and then laughed and banged them together once just for fun. The noise caught Salim's attention and he carefully looked in Carmelita's direction when he saw that she was clad again the old raccoon opened his eyes completely and completely turned towards Carmelita who was now approaching him still dancing and he still playing the flute. Once Carmelita was close enough she quickly pressed a thankful kiss on the old raccoon's cheek. It made him smile a little. Carmelita smiled back until she felt something pulling her backwards. The vixen slid slowly backwards. She tried to dance away but the pull intensified and she was now pulled towards the lamp with great speed. Suddenly Salim stopped playing and almost immediately Carmelita started to run away but it was not to avail. The pull only strengthened no matter how much she tried to escape it.
"Don't fight it Carmelita! The lamp needs to bond with you one last time!" Salim shouted.
When she realized this she turned to face the lamp and allowed it to suck her inside of it. Salim watched the whole thing play out and after Carmelita had again vanished inside the lamp he sat down to the ground awaiting for her to erupt from the lamp as a complete genie of the lamp. He waited for five minutes, ten, twenty, thirty.
"What's taking her so long?" he asked inwardly.
Salim continued to wait. He waited for another ten minutes, then twenty and when an hour had passed he stood up and went to take a look at the lamp. It looked completely normal and to anyone else's eyes it would have just been a normal lamp. Salim was about to pick the lamp up but just before he could lay a hand on it pink smoke started to burst from it's spout. It quickly formed a figure three times as tall as Salim and as he watched it reform into a now genie Carmelita he couldn't help but to smile.
"We did it! She's a genie now!" he exclaimed in his head.
"Carmelita! How are you feeling?" he asked.
She looked down at Salim and only then realized her change in size.
"I feel... so different. Like I could do anything" Carmelita answered.
Salim laughed at hearing this.
"Carmelita, you're a genie! You can do anything" he said.
"Oh, right" she said as realization hit her, "Then let's go back to your ship" she continued smirking.
Carmelita snapped her fingers and in a poof of smoke they were both transported back to Salim's ship's deck with all their belongings. Salim looked in wonder until he noticed the ship tilt to the right a little too much it was then when he remembered that Carmelita had grown in size.
"Carmelita! Quick, shrink yourself before someone sees you!" Salim exclaimed quietly.
The vixen seemed to notice the problem now also and quickly shrank to her normal size.
"We did it" Carmelita said excitedly, "I'm a genie. What an amazing feeling"
"What are you going to do now?" Salim inquired.
"First we are going to decide where you want your diamond tree to be planted" Carmelita said.
The old raccoon had completely forgotten about the wondrous tree in the Cavern of Miracles.
"Will you really give me one?" he asked astonished.
"Of course I will. Just say where I can plant it" Carmelita assured.
"Could you plant it into the cabin?" Salim asked after a moment of pondering.
"Of course" she said and then snapped her fingers again, "Go and take a look"
Salim didn't need to be told twice. He ran as quickly as his aching body let him and opened the. The sight made him gasp harder than ever before. There was a tree growing inside the cabin a tree with leaves all made out of different jewels and its trunk was made of pure gold. He couldn't do anything but stare at it. Carmelita came standing beside him and said: "Look at this" she said while pulling out one big ruby from the tree and almost immediately a new one grew in its place. Salim gasped once more.
"Thank... you" he managed to squeeze out.
"Your welcome" Carmelita said happily as she went to hug Salim, "Thank you" she thanked him.
Salim was still so shocked that she couldn't hug back but Carmelita still knew that he had heard her. She was about to get going but then realized something: "Salim"
"Hmh" he finally murmured.
"How long were we in the Cavern of Miracles" Carmelita asked.
"For the night and the next day" he answered.
"How can you tell?" Carmelita asked puzzled.
"I see it from the stars" Salim answered.
"Aren't you tired?" she asked.
"I am and I'm also aching all over" he complained.
"Oh, but hey you got me" Carmelita said her expression brightening.
She swung her hand and immediately Salim felt all his pain go away.
"Thank you" he said again, "Now I can rest easy"
"Your welcome" she said, "Now if you excuse me I need to go to make some more preparations for tomorrow... or today actually"
"Of course, Carmelita" he said, "Good night"
"Good night, Salim"
Carmelita watched as he closed the door and then jumped high into the air and flew around for awhile until she started preparing for Sly's surprise.
"Be prepared Ringtail. This birthday gift you will remember forever" she thought.
Hope you like this. And to those who are still waiting for update on Green Wolf, don't worry, it won't be forgotten. And also I won't take all the credit about this story. I have had much help from edowdle. This whole story was his idea and I surrender all the credit for him. Especially in the later chapters. Review and stuff...