Chapter Seven

"You've got a SERIOUS God complex. You know that?" Tony Jr. said bitterly to the air as he walked home from Starbucks.

What do you mean? Selos asked telepathically.

"Did it ever ONCE occur to you that the man might not WANTED to have been healed?" Tony Jr. snapped.

What lame man does not wish to be healed? Selos asked.

"Try someone who's never KNOWN how to walk," Tony Jr. replied angrily. "Try someone who's lost all HOPE of walking.

"You've just thrown a total stranger's life for a loop!"

Tony Jr. let out a snort. Who ARE you? he wondered as he kept walking, his thoughts directed at Selos. Who are you REALLY?

Tony Jr. disappeared ...

... And reappeared inside Selos's lair.

The room was sparsely furnished, if it could be called "furnished" at all. In the center of the room, a glowing yellow orb that was approximately the size of a basketball levitated atop a pedestal. Several smaller glowing yellow orbs levitated in mid-air, illuminating the room.

"Where am I?" Tony Jr. asked.

"My study," Selos replied.

"Where?" Tony Jr. asked. "Where is this place?"

"Another ... dimension," Selos replied. He then added, "You wish to know who I am ..."

"Yes," said Tony Jr.

"Place your hand on the orb, Anthony," said Selos, pointing to the glowing yellow orb that was sitting atop the pedestal.

"Why?" Anthony asked.

"All will be revealed to you," said Selos.

Tony Jr. haltingly placed his hand on the orb. The orb glowed ever brighter at his touch.

The room disappeared. Tony Jr. found himself surrounded by images of ancient Egypt.

"My existence spans many lifetimes ... across many dimensions," said Selos telepathically. In rapid succession, the images of ancient Egypt were replaced by images of alien worlds, distant galaxies, and alternate dimensions.

"Before Egypt was ... before Earth was ... before this galaxy was ... I was." Selos continued. "My last incarnation on Earth ended in the time of your Ancient Egypt, approximately six hundred years before your mother was born."

The otherworldly images were then replaced by images of ancient runes, ancient and otherworldly texts, and arcane symbols.

"Do not give too much thought about what you are seeing," said Selos. "It will come to you as needed."

Once more, Tony Jr. found himself inside Selos's lair.

He jerked his hand away from the glowing orb on the pedestal. His heart pounded, his chest heaved in exhaustion.

"Are you all right, Anthony?" Selos asked.

Tony Jr. nodded. "Yes," he said.

"Is there anything else that you wish to know?" Selos inquired.

"Why me?" Tony Jr. asked. "Out of all the people you could've chosen ... why ME?"

"I know YOU ... and I know your mother," Selos replied. "There are many who would seek to exploit my teachings for their own selfish ends.

"You have a good heart, Anthony. You will make an excellent student." Selos then commanded, "Summon the Eye."

Eye of Selos, Come to Me, Tony Jr. commanded mentally. The Eye appeared in the palm of Tony Jr.'s right hand, its single green eye wide open.

"The Eye ... is now an extension of YOU," said Selos. "It is an extension of you ... and it is a link to ME.

"Use it wisely, Anthony. Summon it only under the most dire of circumstances."

Tony Jr. reappeared on the same stretch of sidewalk upon which he was traveling prior to being summoned to Selos's lair. He pulled his smartphone out of its holder that was located on the waistband of his pants.

Two minutes, Tony Jr. thought as he checked the time on his phone. I was gone from this planet a whole two minutes.

"There is danger in exposing yourself," said Jeannie later that day over dinner. "The mortals' Jesus of Nazareth … whenever he healed someone, crowds would follow him everywhere."

"I never asked for this. Selos chose ME." said Tony Jr. He then added, "I'm afraid."

"Of what?"

"Of it ... DOING ... something to me," Tony Jr. replied, referring to the Eye of Selos.

"That ... is ultimately up to YOU," said Jeannie. "I must admit, though, that neither my sister nor The Blue Jinn has set the best example for you.

"I will not deny that such power can be ... seductive."

Tony Jr. sighed. "I know I should be happy for him," he said. "The man in the wheelchair ..."

"But ..."

"He never ASKED for ANY of this!"

"I never asked to spend two thousand years trapped in a bottle." said Jeannie. "Things happen in our lives that we cannot foresee ... that we do not expect ... that we cannot anticipate.

"It has taken me the better part of two thousand years to realize that I am not in control ... NONE of us are in control.

"He will be fine," said Jeannie reassuringly.

"How long will it LAST?" Tony Jr. asked. "Is it temporary or permanent?"

"I cannot tell you. I do not know." Jeannie replied. "You will have to ask Selos."

"I just feel awful about this," said Tony Jr. "Seeing him being given something ... only to have it snatched away."

"It would be a mistake to underestimate mortal resilience," said Jeannie. "They are far more clever, far more intelligent, FAR more resourceful ... than most genies give them credit for.

"Fight them, they will rebel. They will fight to the death, if need be." She then added, "You yourself broke out of a bottle. That is no small feat."

"You would be foolish to underestimate them," Jeannie said gravely.