Surd, Max thought, looking at Kenny leading the tour. He knew a genie lamp was here, they knew I would come. All these years later, me and Kenny. He always wants to save me. Sending a puff of golden smoke into the girl staring at the lamp she couldn't see. Be mine, she thought, don't listen to him…seeing the girl's eyes flash gold for a moment and settle back down. Seeing her melt back from the cloud, Max kept her hold on her.

I feel her, Kenny thought, she's here…she's after that lamp. Get the genie, put her back where she belongs. She should have vanished, but no she was always stubborn and determined. Not evil, Kenny thought, just a genie. Just what she is…Come to me, Genie.

"Ssh," Max whispered in her mind. "Come to me."

The girl looked at her. "You're pretty."

"So are you."

"Are you a fairy?"

Max smiled at her, all dressed in her gauzy clothes, looking very much like she did in her lamp. "No…I'm a genie, Kaitlyn."

"A real genie?"

"Yes. I need your help. Can you help me?"

"Yes."

Max stroked her hair in her dream. The missing girl from the field trip, safe with me in my mist, I feel the Surds down there in the shadows, watching that lamp. Smiling, she cast her magic into another room, bringing the dinosaurs to life. Go, she thought, go. The genie is causing trouble. Or maybe a witch or a fairy, you collectors and killers of magic. Surds…"See? The bad men are going. They won't hurt you."

"Will they hurt you?"

"No," Max said, as Kaitlyn picked up the lamp and she pulled her back into her warming mist. The lamp I can't see…my sister genie. Smiling, she swirled them away.

Kenny and the Surds looked at the vibrating bones of the come to live dinosaurs that they burned and the mummies that came from the tombs. "Genie magic."

"The lamp. One genie could not," he said. "Go, go now!"

"There you go," Max whispered, her body tingling in anticipation. "Help her."

Kaitlyn looked at her, as she rubbed the lamp and the glowing mist came pouring out. "Oh."

She rematerialized in front of them, Max smiling to herself as she and the other genie looked at each other. Freedom, free them all.

"You're a genie too," Kaitlyn said. "Like Hala."

The other genie looked at Max and back at the girl. "Yes, Mistress. You have my lamp."

"Hala said I could save you."

The other genie smiled. "You are unbound."

"Can I be a genie?" Kaitlyn asked. "Is that something I can ask for?"

"You may wish for anything you choose, Mistress."

"Remember?" Max said. "How we can help her? How we can help all the genies?"

Kaitlyn nodded and held out her lamp. "You can have this, Genie. I don't want to hurt you."

She smiled and cradled her lamp to her chest. "My lamp…"

Max stroked Kaitlyn's hair as she became unbound and solid in the world again. "What?"

She laughed, as she watched Kaitlyn freeze and crumble to dust. "Oh, like you didn't know? You're unbound, Sister."

Max was as shocked as a genie could be at the pile of dust. "He didn't…not when he gave me my lamp."

She giggled and hugged her. "Unbound, free. What fun we will have."

I made him immortal, Max thought, looking at the Kaitlyn dust pile, that's why…a dead human. "She was a child."

"Who you used to free me," she said. "It's been 1000 years since I've been out of that lamp…freedom."

Max looked at her. A child. She thought she was helping me…saving us. "They die if they free us."

"You are unbound, you knew."

Ten more, Max thought, can I really free 10 more? Humans they… "She thought I was a fairy."

She laughed. "We are going to have so much fun, Sister. Forget this. Come with me."

Max looked at the Kaitlyn dust. A sweet child…she wanted to help. "They're coming."

"Go," she said, as they swirled away together. "See you soon."

"I want to have fun," she smiled, twirling naked around Max's living room. "A new genie…you naughty thing"

A child, Max thought…that's on me. I made Kenny immortal that's why…she wanted to help the pretty and sad genie. "He loved me when I was human. He thought I was still her."

"You lost your humanity the moment you became a genie."

I did, Max thought, I did embrace this. "He didn't know that. He saw me as Max, his friend, he wanted me to be her."

"I like your outfit, Max," she said, looking at her tight jeans and slouchy t-shirt. "Much better than what we wore in our lamps."

"A male fantasy. They touched me all the time. The rest, Araya, I want to save to the other 10."

"The Surds…they gathered many of us. They cannot destroy our lamps or us, all they do is hide us away."

"Help me."

"I'm not going back in the lamp. It's where you will end up if you try this again. Be free."

"I freed you."

"And we were almost caught. I am not going back in that lamp, Hala," Araya said. "You were in there for a blink of an eye. You are very clever escaping and freeing me. Oh, Hala, we could have so much fun together."

Max smiled as Araya kissed her for a long moment. "I need to have some fun."

"So much fun, Hala."

Hala, Max thought. "We need to get you out of this ridiculous outfit. We're a couple of very modern genies now."

Araya giggled, stroking her cheek. "You're a wicked genie, Hala."

"Oh," Max laughed, as Araya stood naked in her arms. "I like you like this."

"And you like this," Araya said as Max was naked too. "Let me show you what genies can really do, Hala."

Max nodded, as she kissed her again. "Show me."

Max giggled, as she lay wrapped around her genie lover. "That's how he changed me. Sex."

"Silly human," Araya sighed. "That's your story? You were seduced by a genie."

Max stretched out in bed. "He's still alive. Immortal."

"You let him live?"

Max sighed as Araya bathed her nipples with her tongue. "He did warn me about the Surds."

"And he made you delicious," Araya sighed, straddling her. "Hala…"

Max groaned. I remember how I felt with him, how my body and mind changed, how I felt the magic in me, how I became a genie. "He did make me very sexy and beautiful…and young."

"You are lovely, Hala."

Max rolled over and kissed her. "You are fun, Araya."

They intertwined their fingers and smiled at each other. "What should we do first, Hala?"

Max, Kenny thought, as they stood over the pile of Kaitlyn dust. She isn't Max. My Max cared, she's been a genie for 100 years, she's nothing but a genie. I'm going to be that way too, a Surd, hunting her and others like her. We have forever, Max, I will find you and punish you. You can't hide forever.

Max smiled, smoothing Araya's hair. "There. Do you like it?"

Araya kissed her before looking back in the mirror. "We are a very desirable pair, Hala."

Max wrapped her arms around her waist and looked at her reflection. This hair, she thought, liking her fiery red mane and how it accented her golden skin and green eyes. Enjoying her curvy body in her green dress and gold heels. Free. "I'll show you this world, Araya."

"Let's find some humans to play with. I really want to play, Hala."