In which I accidentally stumble across a genie who doesn't grant wishes but rather gives me a watch that can take us across all of time and space. Insane? Yes. Do I care? No. I need out of this quarantine and this genie's given me my chance! So, ignoring the part where Ms. Genie said I need to become a protector of reality or something, let's travel the multiverse!
A/N:
…uh. Hello? I can explain.
I'm really tired of being stuck inside all day and decided to write out my ideal vacation, which of course involves seeing sights that can only be found in video games, movies, novels, television, etc. So, I started to plan a story but ended up wanting another character to bounce dialogue off of, and since I had just finished listening to the Aladdin soundtrack… well…
I chose a genie as the deuteragonist. I do not regret my decision. It's ridiculous and I wanted to write ridiculous text.
Speaking of which this story isn't going to be serious. It's more of a stress relief than anything, so don't expect some super in-depth writing or overarching plotlines. Most of the chapters are just going to be one-shots where I practice describing settings and spinning a little tale around them. So, each place will have Leo doing something, but I doubt it's going to be very big or important. Again, I just need a vacation. Desperately. So, I've resorted to getting one through my OC.
Oh, and the reason why it's labelled as a One Piece Crossover is because of the first official stop on my trip. I might change that label later, who knows.
And don't worry about "The Call," it's still in the works, but college stuff and marching band (believe it or not) have been hitting me hard with the workload. I want to get more concepts out first too, hopefully. But I'm still working on it!
So… that's it! Enjoy the story.
I sighed as a finished typing my latest string of college work, before closing my computer. Standing up, I stretched and looked around the small room that had effectively been my home within my home for the past few months. Papers were strewn about haphazardly, half of them music sheets and half of them scrawled all over with complicated mathematics answers. In the corner, a trumpet lay lazily on its side, taunting me to play it again for the third time in the past two hours.
"I need a break," I said as I slumped my shoulders. Quarantine life had been 'okay' so far. I wasn't too upset about having to stay indoors and work, after all that's what I do with most of my life. But after so many months of being cooped up, these four walls were starting to get to me. I mean, I get up, brush my teeth, and then sit at a computer for five hours. I go downstairs, get something to eat, back upstairs, five hours of computer and work. Go downstairs, make dinner, back upstairs, two more hours. Brush my teeth, go to bed.
Sprinkle in two showers a day, a copious amount of mindlessly surfing the web, and practicing some instruments, and you've got my life on repeat. Day in. Day out.
"I think… I think I need to take a walk." Anything to break the mundanity.
I quickly changed into a shirt and jeans and went downstairs to the front door. Slipping on my shoes, I decided to grab a green hoodie and a newsboy hat from the coat rack just for the heck of it. I did my usual self-pat-down, making sure my phone, earbuds, wallet, and keys were with me, before stepping outside.
It was a surprisingly cool day, despite the fact that it was supposed to be a hot, humid summer. The oak trees that lined the streets of my neighborhood swayed gently with the breeze. A singular car passed by on the road, heading down to the main street that went through my town.
I set off down the sidewalk, trying to empty my head as much as possible in a state of pseudo meditation. Man, I was tired of staying inside, I wish I could go on a vacation or something. It was tempting to just say "screw it" and drive to Disney World, but my paranoia reigned supreme and kept me from going out and risking getting sick.
On a whim, I turned off of the sidewalk and into a wooded area that made up the border of the neighborhood. As I walked, I started kicking some rocks that I found on the ground, not really paying attention to where they landed.
Honestly, I would take anything at this point. When your upcoming trip to Target starts to sound exciting you know that you have to get out more. Maybe I should get into taking long runs? Buy a bike?
It was frustrating, because even if I made a decent plan, I knew that it wouldn't really cure my reverse-homesickness. I needed a real, bona fide, vacation.
I kicked a rock hard in my irritation, which was a mistake.
In an incredible feat of physics, the stone ricochet off of a tree, only to hit another one, and then another one, this time at the perfect angle to make it spin rapidly as it hit me right in the knee.
"JESUS! OW!"
Internally, I repeated my statement. "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!"
What a fun experience. Glad I went on a walk.
As I hopped around in agony, I managed to jump straight into a low hanging branch, causing me to lose balance and fall right into the dirt face first.
…
"Ow," I said, though it was slightly muffled by the juicy pack of dirt in my mouth.
I pushed myself off of the ground while spitting out soil and glared at the offending branch. "Oh yeah, come on out, take a walk, it'll be fun. Clear your head, crack a few jokes, maybe have a few laughs, har har." I didn't think that I would be the butt of said jokes but whatever, I guess.
And now I'm talking to myself. I'm clearly off my rocker.
I stood up and brushed the dirt off of my pants as a strong wind blew on my back, causing the branch to fly right into my head again.
"OKAY MOTHER NATURE! I SEE HOW IT IS!" I pivoted furiously to face the branch and put up my fists in a mock boxing form. "You want to tussle?! Let's tussle!"
The wind picked up again and the branch leaped at me. I ducked, letting it swing over my head and back into its original position. Quickly, I jumped at the branch, trying to pull it off the tree, but somehow the wind turned and sent the branch away from my reach before I could grab it. Then, it swung right back to smack me in the face.
I stumbled backwards, spitting leaves out of my mouth, subconsciously noting that the ground beneath my feet was starting to decline. Which was fine. It's not like I was going to trip and fall on anything-
My heel hit what felt like a large rock, and I careened backwards, tumbling down a long slope.
The rock followed.
Eventually I landed on flat ground with a thud, face up and feeling pain in my everything. To my right, the rock hit the ground and cracked open. 'What a fragile rock,' I idly noted as I sat up with a groan.
I didn't notice the blue mist that seeped out of the broken rock as I rubbed my head and checked myself for any injuries. Not finding any, I stood up for the second time in under five minutes and began to make my way back up the slope to start up the fight again.
"You who has broken the ancient seal, I thank thee."
I froze mid-step, and with an audible creak turned my head to see who just spoke.
The first thing that I noticed was she was somewhat transparent, like a ghost. Her black hair was tied into a ponytail that seemed to float behind her in defiance of gravity. Her pale blue face held two bright, emerald green eyes and a graceful smile. She wore a sleeveless sapphire blue vest over a sky-blue shirt and had a thick golden bracelet on each wrist. Around her waist was a band of red fabric, below which the rest of her body faded into a mist that lazily drifted out of the now split-open rock.
She clasped her hands together in front of her and closed her eyes. "Long have I waited for one to free me from my retainer. As you have broken the seal, I shall bestow upon you, should you accept it, a great power unlike any other, per the contract surveyed… by… me…?"
She trailed off when she opened her eyes, donning a confused and slightly concerned expression. "Why are you pinching yourself?"
I looked up from my arm. Yup, Aladdin genie gender-bend still there. And since I refused to believe that I'd gone THIS insane or that genies exist in what is practically my backyard, I went back to pinching my arm to wake up from this wack-job dream.
"Don't ignore me!"
I looked back up. "Oh, don't mind me. It's just, I finished fighting that sentient branch a few minutes ago and rolled down a really steep hill that I swear can't exist because I don't live above sea level, and now a genie is talking to me about magical powers. This is a dream, and considering how absolutely nutty it's been so far, I want to wake up and book an appointment with a therapist."
She seemed even more bemused than she was before. I couldn't fathom why.
"You're not dreaming." Oooh, I see. My subconscious is trying to convince me to remain asleep. Well I'm smarter than that!
"Oh, c'mon, there's no way that this is actually real."
"And why not?"
"Well besides the fact that I was beaten up by a tree, which can only happen in some sort of sadistic nightmare, you came out of a rock."
The imaginary genie's face flushed purple as she glared indignantly at me. "And what's wrong with being in a rock?"
"Genies don't live in rocks."
"Not everyone can get a fancy golden lamp!"
"Couldn't you just make one if you're oh so magical and powerful?"
She looked away. "That's not how it works."
I raised an eyebrow at that. "You can't change where you live?"
"I can't change where I'm bound by contract." She replied sheepishly.
"So, someone bound you to a rock… and stuffed it in a forest where chances are NOBODY would ever discover it."
She threw up her hands. "It used to be in a town square!"
I snorted at the thought of a cobblestone town square in this part of America. "A town square? What, in 1792?"
"Around that time, I think."
I started at that. "Wait, so you're, what, three hundred years old?"
"Hey!" She exclaimed indignantly, "I'll have you know that I'm closer to two hundred, and that's really young for a jinn!"
"So, you've been bound since birth then?" I asked, now invested into the conversation. Hey, if I wasn't going to wake up yet, I might as well see what my subconscious had cooked up for me.
She nodded with a bit of pride. "I was bound to carry out one of the most important tasks given to any jinn of my generation."
I narrowed my eyes at that. "And there's another thing, what type of genie gives out superpowers instead of wishes or miracles?"
All of the pride that she just had deflated. "Well, I was going to explain that until you interrupted me. I had a whole speech and everything planned." She gave a tiny pout before collecting herself and looking me in the eyes. "Not every jinn grants wishes. In fact, most aren't even bound to objects. They just wander universes in communities, both solving and creating problems for sapient beings."
Completely brushing over the subtle confirmation of both the multiverse theory and the existence of aliens, she raised her finger and continued on. "But some are bound by sorcerers, entities of incredible power, or even other jinn to carry out tasks of great importance."
Now she put a thumb to her chest, some of that lost pride having returned. "And I was given the task of bestowing upon the person who freed me a great power and duty, to become a Guardian of the Multiverse!" Here she spread her arms in a grandiose gesture.
I held her gaze for a full ten seconds before going back to pinching myself.
"For the last time it's not a dream!" She exclaimed, visibly put out that her speech hadn't affected me in the slightest.
"Really?" I began, stopping my pinching (it was starting to really hurt anyway) and crossing my arms. "Then prove it."
She blinked. "What?"
"Prove that I'm not dreaming," I said, gesturing for her to go ahead. "Do something that only a genie could do."
"…how is that supposed to prove that you're awake?"
"If I've never experience it or considered it, then chances are I can't dream it. Like imagining a color that doesn't exist. It just doesn't work."
"And you've thought about finding a jinn in your neighborhood?"
"I have a very strong imagination. Which probably makes this harder for you…"
There was a second of silence before she sighed. "Fine. Come a little closer."
I tilted my head, a little bemused, but complied, leaning forward a little so that I was within reach of her. She brought her hand to my forehead, and briefly I entertained the idea that she might throw me out of my body Doctor Strange style and into a kaleidoscope of dimensions with an insightful voice-over.
I was only half right.
She pressed her index finger between my brow, and I was thrust through the multiverse. I saw space. A black canvas peppered with an infinite number of stars in every direction, endless in its expanse. A singular nebula lay upon the canvas, its hues of violet stardust swirling in a mesmerizing dance.
Suddenly, I was cold. I saw a frozen tundra, three moons hanging in the night sky, one a vibrant green and the other two blinding white. I could see the dark silhouettes of glacial mountains in the distance, gargantuan in size and towering over their surroundings, casting great shadows upon the icy expanse. It was a hauntingly beautiful sight, though I felt intimidated. Like I was being watched by something hidden among the ice.
Then it was hot. And humid. I was standing on a plateau, looking down into a labyrinth of ravines, twisting through a land blanketed with green shrubbery and thick jungle trees. Vines climbed up and down the cliffs, vibrant flowers the size of taxis protruded from the tops of trees, and the exotic sounds of the hidden wildlife filled the air. At the bottom of the trenches I could see a flowing river that… rose. The water defied gravity, twisting and turning through the air like a snake. Some of the liquid escaped the hold of the floating stream, creating a constant torrent of rain above the ravine's floor.
I blinked and then I saw war. I was pulled to the side by my magical companion, barley avoiding a beam that radiated searing heat, and exploding behind me. Ahead of us on a dead world of grey rock, two species clashed wielding weapons the likes of which I had only seen in fiction. A five-legged soldier donning heavy metallic armor shot a two headed opponent with what looked like a gatling gun that fired lasers. Above us, a blazing sun looked down upon the battlefield, illuminating the gruesome carnage created by the two armies.
I barley registered my jinn muttering "Wrong place wrong place" in a panicked tone as I watched in awe. A second later, the scene changed.
I was underwater, though, oddly, I could breath. Shadowy shapes passed. Long tentacles drifted to my side, and an eel-like creature swam by, tiny organic lights embedded into its body like tattoos. But that wasn't my focus.
Below me was a city that rose up from the ocean floor. Green iridescent lights shone from its streets, which were lined with skyscrapers that came up like colossal stalagmites. Tubes connected the buildings, functioning as walkways where I could see people come and go. Signs hung from the skyscrapers, proudly showing off neon lights that beckoned people to visit whatever establishment lay within.
I recognized this place, and in my realization, I began to believe the genie completely and utterly. Because even in my wildest dreams I could never picture this city in such detail, even though I knew its name.
"Rapture," I breathed out with reverence. A civilization with no gods or kings, only man. The setting of the first two Bioshock games.
A whale floated into view, its melancholy song filling the ocean. A few of the city folk looked up from inside their tubes and pointed at the great animal as it passed. I could only stare at the sight in awe as I realized just how surreal this experience was.
And then I was back in the woods, with the genie staring smugly at my shocked expression. "Believe me now?" She asked.
It took a second for me to form a response, probably because I had to force my mouth closed first before I tried to speak. "Well…" I began slowly. "Yeah. Yeah, without a doubt." I gulped (huh, tastes salty), now feeling a little nervous as I recalled what she had mentioned earlier. "You were saying something about me becoming a protector of the multiverse?"
Somehow, she managed to look even more smug. "A Guardian, yes. One who travels through the multiverse and protects reality from anomalies in time and space."
From what? "Anomalies? Like what?"
She waved her hand like this wasn't important information. "Oh, just people breaking time travel rules, items that are in the wrong dimension, the occasional time warlord-"
"Time warlord?"
"-the usual, nothing to worry about."
I didn't appreciate the casual brushing over of things that could potentially lead to my demise, but I let it go for now. "Okay, so I get a title, cool. But how am I supposed to get around? Are you going to be my chauffeur?"
She shook her head. "No, I'll be with you, but you'll be travelling using this." She snapped her fingers and into her hands dropped what looked like… a Rolex?
"What?" I deadpanned.
Her glare would have been scathing if it wasn't in the defense of a Rolex. "Don't judge a book by its cover. This watch is your tool to travelling the multiverse."
I took another look at the totally-not-a-Rolex and noted that there were a lot more bobs and dials on it that the usual watch. The surface also didn't have a clock but instead bore a black screen like you would find on a phone.
Miss Genie (I really need to ask for her name) touched one of the dials and the screen lit up with a simple display, showing three boxes labelled 'Time', 'Place', and 'Universe'. It was somewhat underwhelming, but I figured that it was probably best for me if it wasn't super complicated.
"All you have to do to get somewhere is input the information," she explained. "If you don't know the proper coordinates then I can help out. When I was bound, I was given knowledge of every location in the multiverse."
"You memorized them?"
She shook her head. "No, I have a book."
"…with every location in the multiverse?"
"…It's a very thick book."
"Uhuh," I said.
There was an awkward silence as our back-and-forth ended, before she coughed and continued. "Sooo, that's pretty much it. It's up to you if you want to accept, but considering how hesitant you've been to all of this I'd understand if you don't want to-"
"Oh, I accept," I interrupted.
Her eyes widened. "R-really!?" She said excitedly.
"Yes, just on one condition."
She suddenly zoomed towards me and grabbed my hands. "Anything! Just don't make me go back into that rock. The first hundred years were fun and all, but I've been so bored recently, and I've wanted to get out so badly."
I smirked. "Then you're gonna love this." She looked at me quizzically before I continued. "I've been cooped up for a while too. Obviously, not as long as you, I'd be dead, but still enough that I really, REALLY need a vacation. So, I want to propose something." I released my hands from her hold and crossed my arms. "Before I do any of that time lord stopping tom foolery, I want to go on a bit of a… road trip of sorts. Travel across the multiverse and see the sights, y'know. If that's alright?"
She seemed surprise. "That's… a reasonable request. Though, I'll have to ask that if something comes up, we'll have to abandon the trip."
"Just for a moment, right?"
"No, I mean, the whole trip will need to be abandoned so we can stop literal reality ending threats."
"So, just for a moment? Reality ending threats don't last forever."
She looked at me annoyedly before sighing. "Yes, fine, just for a moment."
I gave a genuine, excited smile. "Cool, then let's go."
Back to that surprised expression. "Wait, now?"
"Yeah, pass the watch please."
"Don't you want to say goodbye to family or gather some supplies?!"
I rolled my eyes. "It's not like I can't come back here at literally any point in time. I need my vacation now! Gimme, gimme!"
She slowly handed me the device, which I grabbed and clipped to my wrist. I gave my hand a roll. It was surprisingly comfortable. The band was made of some kind of silver metal that I couldn't identify, but it wasn't irritating or even cold. It was warm, almost like it was alive.
I looked up from my inspection. "So, how do I use this… uh… I never did get your name."
"Oh, shoot, I guess I never said. Eheh," She laughed embarrassedly as she scratched the back of her head. "My name is Aria."
My eyebrows shot up in surprise. "I was expecting something more… exotic?"
Her eyelid twitched. "I was born in this country you know."
I winced and raised my hands in a placating manner. "S-sorry, just, don't know the protocol for genies. I only ever read about them in those really old legends and they never have names with English origins. Or, uh, Italian, I think, in this case." She scrutinized me for a moment before letting it go and giving me a nod. Then she seemed to wait for something.
…
"Oh! Right! My name is Leone Reys. But most people call me Leo. Nice to meet you Aria." I stuck out my hand, which she looked at for a second before reaching out her own so we could shake.
"So," she said. "Where to first?"
A minute later, we were gone.
A/N:
Don't mind the fact that this guy is named Leo too. It's not my real name but I often use it for self-inserts for no real reason other than I like it. Also, it's easier to keep track of who I'm creating.
I hope you enjoyed this Cookie, though I really, I don't mind how you feel about this one because I'm not taking it very seriously. It's purely for fun, just thought I'd share it with you in case you found it interesting.
Take care everyone, stay safe, and have a great day!
Peace.
Concepts and Cookies.
