Chapter 6. A strange encounter

"Ehm, hello…" He said in a serious self-confident way.

Lila kept staring at him for a few moments before she smiled brightly.

"Hello. I'm Lila." She said extending her hand to him. This was a very interesting being. And he was, as it seemed supernatural, like her.

I guess I should get used to such occurrences she thought. Genie looked at her sweet, smiling face and then morphed into a gentleman with a suit and a monocle and let his feet touch the ground, before he took her hand and bowed down to kiss it, but instead he turned it slightly and kissed his own hand that was holding hers.

"Enchanté" he said in French. Lila blinked a little, blushed slightly and giggled.

"You're funny" she said. "But you didn't tell me your name" she added. Then Genie pulled back abruptly and looked at her.

"Funny?" he took a dramatic pose and morphed back to his usual self, and started levitating. Then he stretched his body and brought his face close to hers.

"Honey… I am the KING OF FUN!" He yelled triumphantly, pulling back and opening his arms wide, while various fireworks started erupting behind his back. Lila opened her eyes wide and blushed even more at the spectacle. Then Genie suddenly stopped and plainly told her.

"I'm Genie… The Genie of the lamp, maybe you've heard of me." he announced smugly. Lila blinked.

"Sadly, I haven't…" she said with an awkward smile. "Are you supposed to be famous?". Genie's pride withered at once and he collapsed on the ground.

"I thought I was" he said faking sadness. Lila took on a worried expression and ran to him, knelt next to him, dirtying her dress with mud and softly touched his shoulders.

"I'm… I'm sorry, are you ok?" she said really concerned that she hurt his feelings. As soon as she touched him, Genie felt a strange chill throughout his ethereal body. The chill immediately turned into warmth and climbed up to his face. He jolted up from his position and forced his whole form to become red in order to avoid Lila noticing the redness on his face. He didn't really know why he did that or why he felt that way. He couldn't put his finger on it. However, after he lifted himself he blew his chest so that he looked bigger and a huge grin was painted on his face.

"Gotcha!" he said and cracked up laughing. Lila who was really startled by his sudden jump narrowed her eyebrows in frustration and a hint of anger. She dropped the lamp. She hated being fooled for many reasons. First off, it wasn't nice and second she was really proud and didn't like it when others outsmarted her so easily. Now the creature that had intrigued her so much only moments ago and for whom she had felt sympathy, seemed to her as a total jerk. She lifted herself and tried to get some mud off her dress, intensely blushing as she failed to do so, and only made things worse. Her dress was ruined! She looked at him frowning her face in what now seemed to be fury.

"You!... I thought you were really hurt! You… idiot!" she said and blushed even more as she was not used to that kind of language. She couldn't even remember if she had ever cursed someone in her whole life, yet she did it now with this strange creature, who managed to get her out of control like that. She was mad at him for fooling her and at herself for being fooled. Genie opened his eyes wide, genuinely surprised. Suddenly his tongue got tied as he saw the blue-eyed girl get such and angry expression. He sure didn't expect that reaction…

"Ehmm… It was just a joke.." he said plainly. He couldn't believe it himself… But, was he feeling embarrassment? Him?!

"Hm!" Lila frowned her face even more and crossed her hands in front of her chest turning her back on him. She was seriously pissed. She didn't remember getting so pissed before in her life. Usually she was calm and didn't get easily angry. For some strange reason her heart was beating really fast as well. It was obviously the anger…

Genie lowered his brows in a surprised and kind of regretful expression. He was just being himself… Fabulously funny as always… Why had the girl gotten so angry?

"Ehmm… Well… I.." he tried to say something but he was seriously at a loss for words. That didn't make him feel very comfortable. He decided that's not the impression he wanted to give her so he blew his chest again. Plus, he couldn't really understand her being so angry just for a joke. She was probably a brat or something, despite the fact that she didn't give out that impression at first. "It was supposed to be funny" he said with as much confidence as he could muster. Lila turned and looked at him with a look that pierced through his heart. Not only displeased, but also judgmental.

"You made me think I hurt your feelings! And you made me get mud all over my dress and now they'll find out I sneaked out and…" her voice was getting gradually more desperate and she said all that in one breath so in the end she was almost panicking! She felt like she was going to cry. Genie lowered his brows even more in a now compassionate look. He took his normal form and moved closer to her and went behind her. He extended his hand to touch her shoulder but regretted it at the last moment and pulled it back. Then he straightened himself and jumped in front of her. Lila was startled. She had gone from curious to angry and from angry to sad within minutes. This wasn't like her.

"Ah!" she exclaimed surprised then averted her eyes from him a little blushed. Genie pointed at the mud stain on her dress.

"I can fix that for you" he said as he moved his fingers and a glittering little vortex appeared over her dress at the part where the dress was dirty. In a few seconds the stain was gone and the dress was good as new.

Lila was a little surprised although she already knew he must have had magical powers. She turned and looked at the dress, still blushing slightly. That gesture made her feel a little strange. Like a sudden burn in her stomach. It was probably because it was unexpected.

"Thanks…" she said still pouting a little. She was a little calmer now that she didn't have the agony of being discovered, but she still couldn't get past the fact that he had tricked her.

"No problem" he said smiling and levitating in front of her again in a sitting position. "You didn't have to go crazy" he said in a sarcastic tone. Lila's face frowned again. The blush was kind of permanent on her face. She didn't know why, but he was kind of right… She wasn't reacting as usual.

"I didn't go crazy. You… you tricked me… It wasn't nice" she said pouting even more. Genie widened his eyes a little. The image of the pretty girl, blushing and pouting was so cute it was heartwarming. Genie rarely found things heartwarming enough to make him actually experience warmth in his chest, yet now he did. He stood up and then twirled around her and brought his face close to her pink-cheeked face.

"You're angry because you were easily fooled" he said playfully. "You're cute" he said completely naturally. Lila felt so uncomfortable she almost tripped and fell but he was almost wrapped around her and he caught her.

"Whoa there! Watch it!" he said making an overly dramatic face expression. Lila got even more uncomfortable.

"Let go of me!" she declared furious. Genie let go of her immediately and sighed.

"I was just trying to help" he said. Now he was getting a little frustrated at how sensitive she was to his jokes. Little did he know about how much Lila had been through the past few days and how confused and frustrated she was. Lila prepared to answer him but then she noticed the sky. It was almost dawn.

"Oh no! It's getting late!" she exclaimed and put her hood on completely ignoring Genie. She turned to leave. Genie blinked. Where was she going? Was she going to just leave him there?! Truth was he was a little confused about his situation now. The blue-eyed girl had completely distracted him. He almost forgot about Ali and the mobsters chasing him. What was he going to do now? He figured going with the girl was much better than staying buried in a muddy river bank… Who knows who might find him.. And the girl… She was interesting to say the least. And that familiar feeling… He cleared his throat and coughed really loudly.

"Excuse me missy…" he said stopping Lila on her tracks and making her turn around and look at him puzzled. "Aren't you forgetting something?" Lila blinked even more confused. Despite the fact that she didn't have time to lose she was distracted by him. Genie took on a very silly expression and pointed at himself. "Me…?"

"Eh?!" Lila widened her eyes. "What about you?" she asked and her eyes fell on the lamp. She noticed that all this time Genie was connected to the lamp and he had come out from it.

"Yes me… You know…" he sighed a little bringing Ali in his mind. "You're my master now… Or mistress… Or whatever I don't know. Anyway I'm yours now so you better take me with you" Lila seriously blushed again at that last sentence. However she really was in a hurry so she didn't pay much attention to the rest of his comments.. Plus, despite the fact that he was annoying she couldn't find it in her heart to just leave him there. She sighed a little anxiously and grabbed the lamp. She'd run now and ask questions later.

"Ok! Just hurry up!" she said and started walking as fast as she could, heading back to Sophia's mansion.

"Sure thing boss!" he joked a little mockingly and got sucked back in the lamp, surprising Lila once again. As she was rushing back home Lila let her mind go back to the incident.

Mistress?! What is that supposed to mean?... Ughh.. And that attitude… she thought. But what was concerning her more, was the fact that she had actually decided to take him with her in a heartbeat… Without a second thought. A stranger. He was weird, annoying and a little obnoxious, still she didn't want to leave him behind. And she knew nothing about him. She felt that strange burn in her stomach again.

Maybe I ate something bad… she thought again as she faced the huge north wall of the house that she was now living in.

Wow! That's a damn big house! You're rich!" she heard a voice echo. It was coming from the lamp and of course it was Genie…

"Shhhh!" she whispered furiously "they're going to hear us. There are guards all over the place" she said as she looked for the opening. When she finally found it, she made sure no one was around and went through it. She hid behind the lily shrubs and checked the perimeter. Genie's chibi blue head popped out of the lamp and surprised her.

"I can do that for you, you know" Lila glared at him.

"Yeah I'm sure a giant ball of blue smoke looking around won't alarm anyone. Go back inside!" she ordered.

"Man are you jumpy… Suit yourself" he said and went back in the lamp. Lila growled. He was really annoying… After she was sure she wouldn't get noticed, she made her way inside the house. That's where she had to be really careful. She followed the same steps she did on her way out and she finally reached the corridor where her room was. Genie was checking her moves from inside the lamp and he was quite impressed.

She's a real escape artist this one… he thought smiling. Lila waited for the guard outside her room to turn his back and she slipped in it really fast. As soon as she got in she took off her cape and let herself fall on the bed closing her eyes. She let the lamp slip from her hands next to the pillow. She released a deep sigh.

"Well that was something!" he heard a cheerful voice that startled her. She snapped her eyes open only to see Genie levitating above her with a huge grin on his face. She averted her look from her.

"Keep quiet. It's late and the house is full of people." She said in a commanding way. Genie wasn't speaking loudly thought. He chuckled a little and made a turn around the room. It was really luxurious and big. Then he sat himself on a velvet armchair.

"Rich girl sneaking out of the house looking for adventure. Classic!" he said with a hint of contempt in his voice. Lila jumped up on a sitting position and glared at him really annoyed.

"That's not at all the case!" she protested. Genie looked around again.

"Oh really? Please explain the ridiculous wealth and the sneaking out then…" he said in a mocking tone. Truth was for a strange reason he himself couldn't grasp yet, getting to the girl's nerves was a bit stimulating and amusing. Lila sighed.

"I have enough adventure as it is. The reason I sneak out is to seek peace…" she said plainly. "And I am not a rich girl… I'm…" she paused. This was the first time she actually realized the truth of her life… Was she really going to say that? "… a goddess…" she finally uttered blushing slightly again.

"THAT I can believe…" Genie said completely self-consciously without even thinking about it. He didn't let it show, but he was actually surprised at his own comment. Lila's face went from rose pink to red. She didn't say anything to that. She tried to calm her inexplicably fast heartbeat… Maybe he was an obnoxious know-it-all but he was the first person she could actually talk to… So she continued.

"My father is the creator of Earth and I'm supposed to take over the planet's protection after him.. I knew nothing of this until yesterday… I was just a mechanic's daughter…" she said pensively. It was kind of relieving to get that out of her chest, but also a little scary because it meant she had to face how real it was for the first time. Genie looked at her with sympathy now.. But then he rolled his eyes and gulped.

"Go..God is your father?" he asked. Lila kept looking down.

"Yes… But I've never met him…" she didn't notice Genie's uneasiness until he started shrinking to a mini Genie with a very funny terrified face.

"Perhaps I should be more careful with you from now on… mistress" he said in a very high pitched fake-submissive tone of voice… Lila couldn't help but smile at that image. Genie didn't know why but he knew that was his purpose… And he had succeeded in cheering her up.

"Perhaps you should" she said also, in a fake-bossy voice. She was really exhausted. She let herself fall back on the pillow and before she knew it her eyelids went heavy and she fell asleep. Genie morphed back into his normal form and went over to her bed. He slowly took her shoes off and moved her feet that were hanging on the side, onto the bed carefully as to not wake her up. Then he slowly covered her with a blanket and stayed over her, staring at her for quite some time…

Sweet… Serene… he thought of her sleeping form. He felt the warmth in his chest again and he cracked a soft smile while looking at her. Suddenly, a strange feeling snapped him out of it and in a split second he jumped back inside the lamp that was beside Lila's pillow. He made the lamp roll under the covers right next to her. Only seconds after he had hidden, a golden aura appeared next to Lila's bed. The aura took form. It was a man with golden hair and a golden cloak.

Solar looked at Lila peacefully sleeping and then he noticed her cloak on the bed. He smiled softly. The suddenly he narrowed his eyes and looked around suspiciously. He thought he had detected another presence… But there was no one there but Lila…

"Hmmmm…" he mumbled before he disappeared again, as fast as he had made his appearance.

….