The hook had drained the Wishmaster. He required a rest, and therefore took one. When that was done with, plotting was initiated. Two goals formed. The first was the same as his original goal, gaining power and freeing his brethren. The second dealt with the thing in the green clothes. What was it? Why was it so obsessed with that gold? How can he defeat it? The last interrogative was, for obvious reasons, of particular interest. Unable to contemplate the location of any form of informational source, the Djinn went out to work on goal 1.

Leprechaun was cursing, using every word of that sort he knew. For the sake of clarity, he was no longer in the college, but in a random alley. While motion was restored to the greedy fairy, his body would still involuntarily twitch every now and then. "With all me wits, eh'll work to tear 'em to bits! Me dun' know much 'bout genies, but under me power, the'll be but weenies! And that Nathaniel bastard, the thief of me gold, pretty soon 'is blood 'ill run cold!" When his temper had cooled down to a sufficient amount for clear thoughts, Leprechaun realized that a successful battle with this new foe would require information. Lessee, genies be Arabs or such, methinks. Not much that me can go on. Eh, there's probably a museum or library or sumtin' around this trash heap. A scared, fidgety boy asked a man, both of whom were located in the street by the alleyway, where he could find the Museum of Arabian and Mesopotamian History and Culture. That was convenient. The leprechaun followed the human. A feeling of familiarity itched in the back of his mind.

Nathaniel couldn't shake the sense that he was being followed. Knowing that in his situation pursuit was a genuine fear, he looked around. To his joy, he saw no one. To his dismay, that didn't shake the feeling. This sensation followed him to the museum, and refused to leave when he was there. Nathaniel, upon seeing evidence of a crime taking place sometime in the past, inquired of it. The curator informed him that the Fire Opal had been stolen. "The artifact itself was quite small, and its historical impact was minimal. It had mythological importance though, and therefore was a very important piece."

"What was the mythology?"

"An old Persian tale about an emperor who freed a 'Djinn', what us in the West call 'genies'. For his second wish, he wanted to be shown wonders, and therefore was shown images of people being tortured. Don't ask me what his first wish was. Before he made his third wish, a sorcerer stopped him, informing him that a third wish would allow the Djinn to open the portal between our world and theirs, and an army of them would destroy the world. The sorcerer proceeded to trap the Djinn in the Fire Opal, where, according to legend, he is still trapped."

Well, I happen to know that the story is true, Nathaniel thought smugly. It then occurred to him that, without the Leprechaun's interference, he and Mitchell would probably have unwittingly doomed the world. "The story isn't well known, even though it's most likely one of the first myths to have the 'three wishes' legend, which isn't as prominent in Arabian legends as most Americans think. In fact, other than this, I might have said that westerners ripped that idea off of leprechauns."

"Leprechauns?"

"Yes, the Irish fairy. They were generally no good troublemakers and ne'er-do-well's, who only offered wishes in exchange for their own freedom."

"Why, ye motherless lout! 'Ow dare ye insult me folk!"

Leprechaun, who had been using his magic to hide himself until that point, popped up in front of the two, claws bared, with an expression that showed seething rage in a noticeable amount. It was not a long period of time before the curator was lying on the ground, screaming, with slash marks covering his torso. The leprechaun who caused this distress was on top of him, adding additional slash marks that went into his stomach. He was dead before the first security guard managed to get close enough