Chapter 2. Castaway

Somewhere in the open Ocean, just South of the Lizard Peninsula, a pirate ship, coming from the Far East, had drifted in the British waters…

"Ah drat! Snake-eyes again?! What the hell Akh?" a bearded, short, almost midgity man with a dirty rug covering his left eye, hissed. He looked like he was in his early thirties.

"Well… I guess lady luck's on my side tonight Hammie" a man of the same age, slightly larger, also bearded but with a big shiny bald spot on his head and a couple of missing teeth, answered with a content grin.

"No lady would come close to you, you fart-smelling uglyface" the other man replied bitterly. A bunch of men that were sitting a little further from them, burst into a very loud laugh.

"Why you…" the bald man started to protest when he was interrupted by the echoing noice of a thunderbolt, accompanied by a blinding thunder, only seconds after the sound.

"Holy cow… What was that? A storm? At this time of year?" he exclaimed, completely forgetting about their previous quarrel.

"We better get ready" the other man said and took away the dice. Their little gambling pleasure was probably over for tonight.

"STORM UP AHEAD!" the observer yelled from the top of the mast. He was a dark-skinned, very big man. His eyes were sharp as an eagle and that was what had given him that position.

The waters seemed calm and the weather had been sweet during most of their journey. However they had been chased pretty far away from their usual territory. To the west. After the loot of the previous day, maybe they wouldn't even have to do this anymore. Many of the men aboard the Sea Hawk had thought of that. Life as a pirate was really harsh, and many of them had done it for way too long and they were growing tired. They wanted to settle down, have a family, live away from the sea. But could they? And most of all now that they were hunted far, far away from where their homes used to be.

….

"Where are we?" the captain questioned, addressing his navigator.

"Well, I'd say too west for our taste captain.. We're approaching an area called Britain…" the young man answered pointing at an old map. It indeed was too west… Too far away from where they usually sailed. The captain frowned his face.

"Damn… That ain't good… These western nations… Their navy is pretty tough… It's not in our best interest to be around here.." he said pensively. The captain was a man not too old. He was in his early forties. He had thick black hair and darkish skin. His hair was tied in a rather sloppy low ponytail and a couple of braids extended from it. His beard seemed a lot better groomed than his hair. He had a big eye patch over his left eye. After a few minutes of silence he addressed his navigator again.

"How long till we'll be to sail back east?" he finally asked.

"Well… Judging from the wind speed and direction it won't be before 2 to 3 days.." the other man answered.

"Well… That's kind of encouraging… 2 to 3 days is not that much… But we have to stay as far as we can from dry land. We can't afford even one hit from those British navy canons…" the captain said pensively again. Then he took his half-lit cigar that was resting on a tray on a desk near-by… He looked behind it. The old golden lamp. He hadn't let anyone touch it. Even he, himself was afraid to… If that lamp was what he thought it was they needed to be extremely cautious at its use. The young navigator observed the captain looking at the lamp. He had noticed his obsession about it. It didn't really seem that expensive. Of course it was a golden lamp but then again, they had gotten items that were definitely far more valuable than this one old thing… However the captain was overprotective of it… That had caused the rest of the crew to get suspicious as well. The navigator didn't care much. He just wanted his share of the gold. He'd go spend it roaming foreign lands and sail back when he needed more of it. What the captain wanted with that old thing was none of his business.

Suddenly the ship started rocking slightly. The navigator got alarmed and rushed to the deck. He looked up ahead in the distance.

"There's a storm coming" Akh noted as he was untying the sail.

"Don't untie it" the navigator ordered.

"Have you lost it Ali? The short man said again. "We'll be torn to pieces if the storm hits us with a wide open sail." The navigator put his open hand over his eyes and looked at the horizon. He really didn't need to as it was already dark but it was an instinctive move. Then he looked up at the stars.

"That storm is at least a day ahead… If we stir slightly north we should be able to get past it before it hits us." He said calmly. "Let the sail be" he ordered and moved back to the captain's cabin and checked the map.

"Everything ok Ali?" the captain asked sipping some rum from an old wooden mug.

"It will be.. But we will have to get closer to dry land… Just slightly. If we don't we're all goners by tomorrow" he said plainly as if it was nothing. The captain got alarmed.

"What do you mean? I told ya this ain't no place to hang around." He said annoyed.

"Well, I guess you'll have to trust me on this one captain. There is a huge storm coming our way and believe me when I say the Hawk won't survive it." He started his analysis. "Our best chance is to sail a little closer to this small peninsula… I believe the place is called Cornwall…" he said pointing to a point in the map on the southern part of the big island that was Britain. The captain didn't like the idea. But the thought of being torn to pieces by the storm was not appealing either. The navigator continued without paying attention to the captain's discomfort.

"There is this little cape here.. The Lizard Peninsula.. It's probably not guarded since it's just an extension of a dry rocky area and there are hardly any establishments around. Also there is a lighthouse according to this map so we should be safe to get there. We could dock in the small cape until the storm is out and then sail back to the east" he finished his analysis.

"You sure know a lot for a boy your age" the captain noted.

"Of course I do. I am a navigator and a wanderer" Ali said smugly.

"Very well, we shall do as you say" the captain said and exited the cabin to go give the orders. Ali was left alone in the cabin. The young navigator looked around. His eyes fell on the old lamp.

"What on earth is it about this old thing?..." he mumbled and moved to take it in his hands. The captain wouldn't be back for a while and he really was curious. It was in his nature. He examined it closely. There was something written on the side but it was in a language that Ali could not understand. Suddenly the ship rocked and Ali tripped on the table and dropped the lamp in the captain's ashtray.

"Ah dammit!" he slightly panicked and took the covered in ashes lamp out of the tray. He used his sleeve and started frantically rubbing it clean. He couldn't let the captain know he had touched it. That could even mean he'd have to walk the plank. Suddenly, the lamp started vibrating and emitting a reddish glow. Then it started shaking so much that Ali dropped it again. However this time it didn't fall, it just levitated and kept vibrating and swelling up as if it was about to blow, something that almost happened when a huge amount of colorful smoke started bursting out of the lamp's opening.

"Holy… shit…" Ali mumbled self-consciously. The smoke was followed by a series of mini explosions that resembled fire crackers. Ali blinked a couple of times before he heard an actual sigh. It was a human voice, or was he dreaming…

"Aw man… All this time in the sea without a woman finally cracked me… I'm having illusions…" he said to himself while facepalming. But the vision kept on.

"Ahhhh… Did someone ask for a lady?" the strange sighing voice said and the smoke started clearing and taking the shape of a rather ugly-looking, blue colored bearded female figure. It looked more like a man dressed as a woman. Ali instinctively pulled back and tripped on something causing him to land on his butt.

"Whoa!" he exclaimed.

"Are you alright there laddie?" the creepy figure said with a, what he tried to sound like mellow, but in fact sounded disturbingly rough, voice approaching the young navigator and fluttering its long eyelashed eyelids rapidly, trying to act flirty. Ali freaked out.

"Stay away from me you fiend!" he yelled in terror. The creature took a very hurt expression and pulled back, at the same time morphing in what seemed to be his real form. He had the upper body of a muscular man, a strangely shaped beard and a bald head with just a small ponytail of black hair extending at the top of it. His ears were pointy and he had only four fingers on each hand. The lower body was an irregularly shaped and smokey and Ali could not really tell whether it was materialized or just ethereal. The creature's color was blue. He levitated on the air crossing his arms over his chest with a fake-frustrated expression on his face.

"Now that's not nice… I was just trying to help… And you hurt my feelings" he said pulling a handkerchief out of nowhere and started wiping his fake tears and blowing his nose.

i Yup… I'm definitely dreaming… Could be the rum…/i Ali thought looking at the blue figure in awe.

"Wh…What are you?" he finally uttered reluctantly, still a little scared.

"Who me?" the smokey figure answered, completely getting over his previously emotional state within a split second and pointing at himself in an oh so modest way, faking surprise.

"I am the one… The only…The ever-impressive...the long-contained...the often-imitated... but never duplicated...GENIE OF THE LAAAAAMP!" he exclaimed triumphantly as a huge light halo appeared glowing all around him.

"But you can call me Genie" he added plainly, looking at the young man and making all the theatricals disappearing at once. Then he narrowed his brows and approached the guy again touching his chin and examining him closely.

"You look awfully familiar little boy" he said and pulled back. Ali didn't have the time to react. He was still shocked.

"Ge… Genie?" he mumbled.

"Yes. That's me!" the Genie said in a singing voice pointing at himself again.

"So what do you wish of me master…." He paused and looked at Ali. "Sorry I didn't catch your name there sport…"

"A..Ali.." the navigator answered mechanically.

"Master Ali. What can I do for you?" the Genie found the face and the name of the boy all too familiar but he couldn't quite define why. However it was really relieving that he was out of that lamp after so many years. Thankfully it hadn't been as many as other times, maybe a couple of centuries or so, which were practically minutes in the supernatural beings' time scale, but still he hated the confinement. He was a free spirit. He needed his fresh air.

"You… For.. for me?" Ali was dazed and hadn't realized the situation. He had heard before of the magical genies that could grant wishes to whoever possessed their lamp but he thought them ridiculous fairy tales for children and idiots. However, he couldn't deny what he was facing. Although, he still wasn't convinced it wasn't just his mind playing tricks on him. Suddenly his thoughts were interrupted as he saw the captain's figure approaching from the window.

"SHIT, SHIT, SHIT! Whatever you are, please go back where you came from… which is I guess… the lamp" he said in panic.

"I don't want to. I hate it in there" the Genie pouted. Ali was desperate.

"Please go in the lamp!" he repeated. The Genie released a deep sigh.

"Only cause I like you…" he declared as he got sucked back inside his lamp. Ali quickly put the lamp back where the captain had it and tried to act calm and indifferent. The captain entered the cabin and noticed nothing but the boy's nervousness. He looked around. Nothing was missing and the lamp was in its place.

"Calm down boy. I changed our course. We're going where you said. Now go get some rest. You haven't slept in almost two days." Of course, it was that too. Ali was almost sure now, that he was just daydreaming before. He nodded to the captain and walked to the door.

"i Don't forget about meeee…/i" he heard the mellow voice of the Genie again. He jerked up startled. Turned around. The captain had obliviously sat on an old armchair and was about to fall asleep. He seemed to not have heard it.

i I am really losing it…/i Ali thought. i It's over.. No more sailing life for Ali…/i Suddenly the lamp moved on its own, practically hopping to Ali's direction and a mini Genie head popped out of it.

"I'm yours now. You gotta take me with you laddie" he said. Ali widened his eyes and gulped, although it seemed like the captain didn't hear a thing the Genie said.

"Go back! You're not mine, you're the captain's" he ordered whispering.

"But I don't like it here. It smells bad and it's humid. And you're wrong. My master is the one who releases me from the lamp and not the one who just possesses it, ergo, you". The Genie said matter-of-factly. Ali despaired again. This was such a mess. Real or not.

"Please go…" but before he could finish his phrase the whole cabin was rocked almost upside down and Ali felt a very strong vibration like the ship had crushed on something very big.

"What the?!" the captain exclaimed and rushed out not paying any attention on the lamp's changed position. Ali rushed out too but without him noticing the lamp hopped inside his pocket before he did.

As soon as the navigator came out he faced chaos. The ship was almost torn in half and most of the planks had started separating and the seawater was entering the keel very fast.

"What happened?" he asked one of the sailors.

"We hit a reef! A huge one! Thanks for nothin' mister navigator" he said and rushed as the others were already jumping in their not so big life boat.

"B.. But how is that possible?..." he mumbled looking at the stars and the horizon. "There should be a lighthouse… I…" but then he realized that he would drown if he was left behind. He rushed to the boat which was already full but could take a couple of people still. He prepared to jump but the captain pushed him away.

"Oh no you ain't coming little runt. You're responsible for this. You're lucky I ain't making you walk the plank. Now stay here and enjoy the fruits of your navigational instructions." He spat bitterly and threw the boy back on the flooding deck. Despair started taking Ali over again, when suddenly he heard Genie's voice again.

"Seems to me like you need a little bit of help" he saw a mini Genie sitting on his shoulder.

"Ah! Not you again!" he exclaimed but then he reconsidered. "Can you help me? I don't want to die. I have three wishes right?" he said in one breath. The Genie chuckled. He took his full form as he swooshed out of Ali's pocket. Suddenly he stopped. He felt a very strange vibe… An energy wave coming from somewhere not too close, not too far. He looked up at the horizon and saw a faint white glow… Something that only his eyes could see…

"Hmmm… Seems I'm not the only supernatural being around here" he whispered to himself smirking. But then he turned his attention back to Ali. He jumped in the sea and took the form of a children's life belt.

"Would be better in a sunny weather but oh well. Hop in laddie" he said cheerfully. Ali couldn't see the fun in this situation but hopped in the frozen water anyway. He didn't have much choice. The sea took them away from the sinking Hawk and Ali was freezing so he tried talking to the Genie who, well, had saved his life.

"So this is one wish down.." he said in a trembling voice. "So that means I got two more?" he asked.

"Oh laddie. I would save you anyway. If you drowned I'd go down the bottom of the ocean and it would be hundreds if not thousands of years before I got fresh air again. No thank you. So don't sweat it. You don't want to waste a wish like that." The Genie answered casually and then started whistling a sailing song.

"Please stop that…." Ali muttered. The Genie pouted but stopped. "Also… Could you morph into something.. More comfy ?" he said reluctantly. "Like… a raft maybe?" The Genie took a devious look and chuckled again.

"Oh we're getting demanding all of a sudden eh? Very well. I could do that. But you have to promise never to call me a fiend again. It hurts my feelings" Ali could tell he was kind of mocking him but again, no other choice.

"O…ok I pro…promise" The Genie immediately formed into a small raft with Ali panting on top of it.

"That's better" he said before completely losing his senses.

"Maybe for you…" the Genie pouted again.

….

The next morning Ali woke up face down in muddy sand. He lifted his head for air and coughed spitting some sand and water.

"Rise and shine laddie~~" the Genie's mocking voice was heard. Ali turned and looked at him. He had formed into a human-like shape and was wearing one of those ridiculous striped bathing suits.

"Oh do come join me… The weather is so inviting" he said the same way as before. Ali sighed, coughed out some more sand and lifted his weak body to go sit next to the Genie.

"Thanks for saving me.." he said as he sat.

"Oh de rien mon ami" the Genie replied in French. Ali lifted his brow in surprise.

"De what now?" he started saying but a settlement visible behind the Genie caught his attention. It was a lighthouse.

"The lighthouse… I knew it!" he exclaimed. The Genie looked at the building indifferently but then looked up ahead in the sea, thinking of the creature that had caught his attention the night before… What could it be? Maybe another genie?

…

Somewhere not far from where Genie and Ali had been washed out, a certain blue-eyed, white-haired 16-year old was getting a serious scolding…