It's still September... at least where I live XD So here's the next chapter, again beta'd by my awesome friends Aerle and Thérèse. I've already started on the next chapter, so hopefully that one will be a bit quicker.

I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 10: I know fire

Thatch was reading a book in his usual chair – how he could do that for hours I didn't know – while I was looking out of the window, thinking about what I would tell Vivi next time I'd visit her, and about Marco. I still wondered why I hadn't seen him last time I was at the palace, and I wondered about what Vivi had said, about him not being able to leave that building. It still struck me as weird.

When my nose picked up an unusual, yet all too familiar scent, I looked up. "Oh look," I said to Thatch, while I couldn't help but grin. "Something is on fire, and I didn't even touch it."

Thatch closed his book and came standing next to me. "You seem a little too happy about that. It seems like multiple buildings are on fire," he said as we both saw thick clouds of smoke rising up from the other side of the city.

Thatch narrowed his eyes. "Wait, isn't that around where Izo lives?"

I took a closer look. "Now that you mention it…" Suddenly, a feeling of worry came over me. Which surprised me, because I had been pretty sure I didn't care that much about Izo. I shook my head. "I'm sure he's okay." I may have said that, but this feeling in my gut still didn't go away. If Izo would die, I wouldn't have anyone to force me to go to the palace anymore. That would be… odd. I had gotten used to Izo, I had to admit.

"Are you sure?" Thatch sounded worried too. "Shouldn't we check up on him?"

I shook my head, but still couldn't look away from the smoke that was slowly coming our way. "Don't be ridiculous. He'll show up sooner or later, like he always does. If I haven't seen him two days from now, I'll take a look around there. Besides, if I would go there now, they would blame me for the fire anyway."

We stood there in silence for about a minute, when Thatch crossed his arms in front of his chest. "No, I'm going to check up on him."

I frowned. "No, you won't." I looked my genie in the eyes. "Why are you suddenly so worried about him? You barely know him. He doesn't even know you!"

Thatch looked from the stairs, to me, to the smoking part of the city, but then sighed. "I… just have a bad feeling about this. Besides, he's not a bad person, and I don't want him to die."

I cocked my head, and thinking of what Izo had asked me when I was at his place, I tried to mimic him. "Thatch, do you have a crush on Izo?"

Thatch snorted and looked at me to check if I were serious. Then he laughed. "No." He chuckled and shook his head. "You can care about people without having a crush on them."

Thatch wasn't even blushing the slightest, so I guessed he was telling the truth. Not that blushing meant a person was lying about this, of course. I was well aware that I had been blushing when Izo had asked me this question about Marco. But that was just because it was an embarrassing question. I didn't have a crush on Marco…

Or that was what I thought. I didn't actually know what a crush felt like. I mean, I had never had a feeling I wanted to see a certain girl more than normally, or that I wanted to kiss her or anything. But I would like to see Marco again. And if I were honest with myself, I was looking forward to seeing him, more than I was to seeing Vivi. Even though I liked Vivi too. But… that wasn't a crush, right? I wasn't gay… Or was I?

I barely registered my face becoming hot. I had never thought of the possibility of me being homosexual… To be honest, I hadn't given sexuality or relationships much thought in general. But I wasn't like Izo. Izo was pretty obviously gay. But I wasn't like that. There was really one question that could answer if I had a crush on Marco, and so, if I was attracted to men. Did I want to kiss Marco?

I slowly became aware of my almost literally burning face, when I tried to imagine how that would be, kissing with Marco. His slightly red lips on mine… would they be soft, wet, or dry? Would he be a good kisser? Of course he would be a good kisser. I couldn't imagine it any other way. And yes, I had to admit to myself, I didn't mind this daydream at all.

"Hello?"

I barely saw Thatch waving his hand in front of my face, before he got a match out of nowhere and placed it against my cheek. I fully awoke from my daydream when the tip of the match suddenly burst into flames.

"Wow, your face sure is hot," Thatch commented as he blew out the match. "Do you have a crush on Izo?"

"What?! No!" I was quick to say, but I didn't succeed in getting rid of my red face yet. "No, not on Izo…"

"Oh?" Thatch looked amused as he lit another match on my face. "So who do you have a crush on then?"

"Stop that!" Annoyed, I pushed the hand with the match away. "Or I'll light more than just the match in your hand."

"Ooh, am I supposed be scared?" Thatch grinned. "You didn't answer my question yet."

I rolled my eyes. "I don't have a crush on anyone."

"Then why's your face still red?" Thatch continued to tease me.

"Why is your face still ugly?" was my best comeback. "I don't… maybe I like someone, I don't know, leave me alone," I muttered. I really had to figure things out for myself before I would even think of telling someone else.

Thatch kept grinning at me, but then cast another look out of the window, and his face became worried again. "Are you sure we shouldn't check up on him? If it were only to check if the fire won't consume the whole city…"

"Even if the whole city would burn down, this tower wouldn't," I pointed out. "At least if your magic really works that well. A burned down tower can't keep me safe from the government, after all." To be honest, I was just glad we had changed topic.

"Yeah, but a lot of innocent people would die, and you wouldn't want that, knowing you could have stopped the fire, right?" Thatch brought up. "Because you can control the fire, can't you, with your powers?"

I sat down. "I could, but I'm not the fire department of this city." Alubarna hadn't been so kind to me that I now felt like helping out that much. They hated me, so why would I help to stop a fire?

"Yeah, but what if Izo –"

"The fire is already dying down."

Thatch rose an eyebrow at me. "How do you know?"

I shrugged. "I can feel it. Besides, the smoke is getting thinner and less high, meaning the fire isn't spreading anymore and is losing heat." I smirked confidently at him. "I know fire."

Thatch kept looking outside, not seeming to be convinced. "I should hope so."

It was only a few hours later, when we heard footsteps coming up the stairs. I exchanged a look with Thatch, before I looked at the stairs again, waiting for my guest to show themselves.

Just a few seconds after I'd noticed the footsteps, a head full of black hair and perfect make-up came into view.

I smiled widely, but tried not to show how relieved I was to see my fellow thief. "It's Izo!" I said to Thatch. "He's alive! See, I told you he would…" My voice slowly trailed off as I looked at my genie, who had turned into a dog again, without me noticing it. I realized I must have looked like a fool, talking to a dog like that.

Izo snorted. "Yes, Stefan was probably worried sick about me," he said sarcastically.

I gave Thatch my most vile look for betraying me like that, before I returned to Izo. "You would be surprised."

Only then I noticed Izo was carrying not only his bag, but also a few items of clothing, which he was trying to keep as neat as possible. "Did you go shopping?" I asked, but when I saw his face I quickly continued, "or was that fire really at your place?"

Izo sighed and sat down on the stairs. "The whole building burned down, and a few surrounding buildings as well."

I felt a little bad about the tactless shopping comment, so I offered him to sit on Thatch's chair – which Thatch wouldn't be sitting on now anyway – and Izo gratefully accepted.

"Apparently, one of the girls at my place had a lover who couldn't keep his jealousy in check, so he lit the whole place up," Izo explained when he sat down. "I could just safe a few of my favorite clothes and some make-up, before I had to run."

I nodded slowly, deciding not to comment on his priorities. "So, what are you going to do now?"

By the way Izo looked into my eyes, I could already feel the request coming, so I wasn't too surprised when he said, "I was hoping I could come live here. I mean, in this tower."

I sighed, while looking at Thatch, who laid his dog head down on Izo's foot. If I wanted to keep my genie a secret, it could get problematic if Izo would live here. "Don't you have friends or family or something where you can live?"

"They don't have room for me. Hell, some don't even have a home themselves. But you're living on the fourth floor, which means there are three empty floors beneath you," Izo explained.

I snorted. "I'm surprised you didn't ask to live on the same floor as me."

"Oh, we could also share a bed, if that's what you prefer." Izo winked, which made me feel relieved. He had seemed kind of down, but fortunately, he was still his old, slightly perverted self. He became serious again, but still smiled. "Besides, I see you as a friend too."

I didn't know how to react to that comment. It was one thing that Thatch declared to be my friend – he was a genie, he was different. But now Izo thought of me as a friend too? I couldn't believe him when he said that. I averted my eyes. "Yeah, sure. You barely know me." He probably only said that so I would allow him to live in my tower. Not that I really owned the tower or anything, so he could live here without my permission as well, but I could imagine it being more fun to not be fighting with your neighbor.

"I guess that feeling isn't mutual then," Izo said, and he seemed to be a little offended by it.

I shrugged. "Yeah, well, Stefan is my only friend right now. I'll have to get to know you better before I can fully trust you, let alone call you my friend," I said, but at the same time I realized he didn't need any hostility at the moment, he just needed a place he could stay and regain some breath after the fire. So I forced a smile onto my face. "But that'll probably change when you live below me for a while."

Izo grinned. "So I can stay?" When I nodded, he clapped his hands together. "I knew you liked me more than you pretended." He stood up, petting Stefan on his head as if to apologize for disturbing him, and picked his bag up again. "Well, I'll be making my new home ready then."

He wanted to walk away, but I stopped him just before he could descent the stairs. "One thing, though. Two, actually." I cleared my throat. "You'll take the second floor, so we won't have to hear everything that's going on at the other's floor." I ignored Izo's snort and continued to my most important point. "And no sudden visits. If you want to come up here, you'll announce yourself way before you're here."

Izo raised an eyebrow. "Do you have secrets you want to keep from me?"

I looked at him seriously, trying my best not to show that there were indeed things I wanted to keep secret, as he would never let go before he knew what it was. "I just like my privacy."

Izo had told me he hadn't found the treasure he'd come for yet, so we decided to pay the palace another visit, a few days after our last one. Since I had no way to contact Vivi about when I'd come again, I just hoped she would be in her room again, and that she had a map of the city there as well. At least she would have had enough time to fetch one.

We entered the palace in the same way as the last time, and again it wasn't too hard to reach Vivi's chamber. However, I didn't encounter Marco – again – which disappointed me, but at the same time made me feel a little relieved. As much as I looked forward to seeing him again, the thought also made me a little nervous. Especially when I thought of how I might have feelings for him that were not platonic – I wasn't ready to fully admit it to myself, though, as I still couldn't really see myself as homosexual.

When I knocked at Vivi's door, she didn't answer. I knocked again, but still nothing. I tried the doorknob, and the door appeared to be open, so I carefully peeked inside the room. When I saw no one, I sneaked inside, and closed the door behind me. Looking at the bed, I decided to test out the soft mattress once more, while waiting for the princess to return. This time I remembered to take my boots off, and laid down on what felt like clouds to me. So soft… I really wouldn't mind having a bed like this.

I opened my eyes when I felt a poke in my ribs. Vivi was standing leaned over me and chuckled. "Feeling at home, are we?"

I blinked a few times, before I lifted myself on my elbow. "When did you come in? Wait, did I fall asleep?"

She chuckled some more. "Unless the snoring was fake, I would say yes."

Awesome. Stupid narcolepsy. Well, at least I was lying on a bed this time. I'd had worse timings. "How long have I been asleep?" I asked while sitting up.

"How should I know? I just came in," Vivi answered. "But I don't think I've been away for more than an hour, so an hour at most."

I hoped it wasn't that long, or Izo would be pissed if I showed up so late. I stretched my arms. "So do you have a map?"

"Yes!" Vivi said, a smile appearing on her face. She walked to her desk and got a scroll from the drawer. She came sitting on the bed next to me, spreading the paper out in front of us. "So tell me, where did you grow up?"

I needed a little time to get used to the map and see where everything was, as I usually didn't need a map for this city and therefore rarely looked at one, but then I began to tell my story. I told her about when I was young, about where Dadan's coffee shop was, where I'd met Sabo, and where we used to play, and a lot of other things. She was very curious about everything, and with about every place I described, she voiced her wish to go there.

I just smiled at her when she said that, as I really couldn't do much more. I wanted to show her all those places, but really didn't want to get caught. Vivi might have been able to convince that bird guy, Pell, to let me go once, but if I was caught outside the palace with the princess again, I'd definitely be sued for kidnapping the royal heir, if not worse. And being caught meant bye bye freedom. That was definitely not something I was about to give up.

I just couldn't see the two of us sneaking in and out of the palace like Izo and I did. Vivi wasn't used to sneaking around, like us thieves were, plus the guards were focused on her, and on top of that, her hair stood out too. Almost everyone in this country had dark brown or black hair, like Izo and myself. But not Vivi – and Marco, I couldn't help myself thinking – she had bright blue hair. There was no way she could sneak through the gardens without being noticed. And even if she covered her hair, there were still the other points that worked against us.

Of course there was one option… One option I could use which would guarantee us not being caught. I could use my third wish for this. Thatch could make sure we escaped the palace without being seen by any guard – hell, we could probably just walk out of the front door without being seen like that. But I wasn't sure if I wanted that, if this was important enough to use my last wish for.

Then I remembered something Thatch had said. "Don't you have a genie?" I interrupted her. To be honest, I hadn't even heard what she'd been saying the past minute or so.

She looked at me with a look as if to see if I were serious. "A genie?" She chuckled embarrassedly. "Are they real?"

I shrugged. "I think so." I wasn't ready to tell her about Thatch yet. Not until there was really no option left. "I heard the government had a few in their possession."

Vivi looked down. "If they do exist, and the government did have them, I'm sure they would do anything to keep them from me." She sighed. "Do you really think I would still be stuck here if I had a genie to fulfill my wishes?"

I shrugged again. "Not very probable, I have to admit. But it could have been that you just hadn't thought about it."

"I wish it were so." Vivi looked at me. "You don't secretly have a genie that you've forgotten about either, do you?" she asked half-jokingly.

I tried to put on my poker face, but failed. "Nope. No genie I forgot about." It was true, I hadn't forgotten about Thatch.

I saw her giving me a funny look, probably seeing through my not-so poker face, so I jumped up. "Well, I'll try my best to think of a way to get you out of this palace, okay?" She nodded a little caught off guard, but I didn't give her a chance to ask more questions. "I gotta go now. See you later." Before she could even properly say goodbye, I had already left the room.

I started to walk quickly, as I knew I was probably a bit late to meet up with Izo. I went around the first corner, but then stopped. First I heard footsteps nearing. Then I saw the guard. The guard who was not Marco. And he saw me too. Fuck.

I turned around and started to run. I desperately looked for a place I could hide myself, but the hallway was empty, except for a few candleholders and carpets hanging on the walls. I neared Vivi's room again, but getting back in there would probably put her in trouble. But I had to find a hiding place now. Before the guard turned the corner as well, and could see me hiding.

So I did the only thing I could. I hid behind the carpet hanging opposite of Vivi's room. I could hear the guard shout "Hold it right there!" before his footsteps came around the corner, but I was already hidden. I was standing as still as possible, making myself as flat as possible between the wall and the carpet. I heard Vivi's door open – she probably came to see what the commotion was about – and the footsteps of the guard slowed down.

Would he give up because he didn't see me anymore? Or did he slow down because he saw Vivi? I didn't know, as neither of them spoke. I hold my breath, so I wouldn't make any sound.

As I waited for something to happen, I suddenly became very aware of the carpet. I let my eyes wander over the tiny part of it that I could see while being so close to it. The carpet reminded me of a fairy tale Dadan and her family had told me when I was young. What if…

The guard didn't let me finish my thoughts, as he pulled the carpet aside and left me with no place to run.

TBC

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