Here's chapter three~! I hope you like it :)

Thanks to my beta's Thérèse and Aerle! :D The cover picture of this chapter and every following odd numbered chapter is made by MyLadyDay :D

I also noticed that every chapter seems to get longer than the previous XD but I doubt anyone minds much :P Also, I would really love it if you'd review as it highly encourages me~!

anyway, enjoy~!

Chapter 3:

Call me Stefan

I sat down in my apartment and immediately took the oil lamp out of my bag. I held it in my hands for a while. Should I summon Thatch? It was not that I had a wish, but I did enjoy talking to the man.

It appeared I didn't need to make a decision, however, as within a few seconds the genie was already standing beside me.

I raised my eyebrows. "Don't I need to rub the lamp before you can come out?"

Thatch smiled. "Nope. Once you've rubbed the lamp, you're my master and as long as my master is alive I can come out whenever I want." With a turn of his hand, a comfy chair appeared next to him. "Well, unless you order me to stay inside, of course."

He sat down on the chair, placing one foot on the other knee and leaned back. "So what happened?"

I looked at the comfortable looking furniture and nodded in its direction. "Are you gonna get me one of those too?"

Thatch grinned. "If you want to use one of your wishes for it…"

I snorted. "In your dreams." However, the ground was still rock hard when I sat down on it. Oh well, I was used to it.

"Now, tell me, tell me. What happened? Something with… a princess?" Thatch asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

I crossed my arms and leaned against the wall. "I'm not totally sure what happened myself. I stole some money and while running, my way was suddenly blocked by a girl. I took her in my arms and escaped to the rooftops. There I discovered that the girl was the princess! Can you believe that?"

"Well, yeah, I already expected something like that. But she didn't say what she was doing there, right?" the genie asked me.

"No, I still don't have a clue." It frustrated me a bit. Why would a princess be out in the streets on her own, meddling with the scum of the city – because that was what I was part of. "I wanted to take her with me, but then there was this bird-man who came to save her."

Thatch head snapped up. "Bird-man?"

"Yeah," I answered. "Some high ranked guard probably. A Zoan type. Looked like a falcon to me."

"Oh." The brown haired man shook his head. "And you let them escape?"

I shrugged. "They let me go, so I let them go? I wasn't intending to meet – let alone kidnap – the princess in the first place, so…" I let the sentence end in silence.

"Hm, and then?" Thatch continued to ask. "There was a… man? Izo, I believe?"

"Yeah, Izo… He somehow got me to work together with him to invade the palace or something." I frowned while telling him.

"How did he look?" The genie asked almost impatiently.

Raising my eyebrows, I asked, "What do you mean?" But then I remembered he heard everything and must have heard me ask about the man's gender. "Oh, well, I first thought he was a woman, because he was wearing female clothes and make-up." I chuckled when I remembered it. "But apparently he was a man."

The brunet laughed shortly. "What kind of female clothes? A dress? A dancing girl uniform?"

The image of Izo in a dancing girl's outfit made me laugh. "No, it was a kind of eastern fashion. A bit like those… what are they called?"

"A geisha?" the genie guessed.

My finger pointed at him as if to point at the word he'd just said. "A geisha, yes."

Thatch smiled contently. Why wasn't really clear to me; it seemed like he was very pleased with himself for guessing it right or something.

I shifted my weight uneasily to move the pressure point from my right buttock to my left.

"Alright, alright, I'm in a good mood, so you're lucky." Thatch had apparently noted my uneasiness and with a swift movement of his hand another chair appeared next to him. He nodded at the piece of furniture. "Sit down."

As I stood up, he continued his interrogation with a grin. "So, did Izo threaten you?"

I frowned. "Of course not. I threaten people, people don't threaten me." I sat down and almost got swallowed by the cushions of the chair. I let out a quiet moan at the feeling of the softness. "Seriously though. How do you do this? Do you just magically make them appear out of nothing or do you get them from somewhere?"

Thatch chuckled again. "The last. I can only get things that already exist somewhere. These chairs are from the prime-minster's home," he added grinning.

A laugh escaped my lips. The furniture had just become even more comfortable, knowing that a government official had to miss it.

"However, it does take quite some effort. I mean I can't just use my powers limitless," the genie continued to explain. "Since I'm only supposed to use them three times, to make peoples wishes come true, it really takes much energy to do so without a wish. I can just do small things unless you wish for it. So be glad I like you. Next time you want something you will have to use a wish for it though. That costs no energy at all."

Smiling we fell into a comfortable silence. Well, I was used to it anyway, since I had been more or less alone for most of my life. Well, not the first half of it, but I couldn't remember that much about it. Only the people who had raised me and the one person who had really been important to me, the only friend I'd ever had, and who I had lost.

I shook my childhood memories away and my gaze was once again attracted to the intriguing body of my genie, through which I could still see the minister's chair. "What is it your body is made from?" I asked curiously. "I mean, as a genie, you're semitransparent.

Thatch looked at his own hand. "You know…" he started. "I haven't got a clue."

I snickered. "You don't know what your body is made of?"

He quirked an eyebrow. "Like you know exactly what you're made of!"

"Well, yeah. Flesh, blood, bones," I answered him. "But I'm not see-through."

The brunet snorted. "That's not nearly all you exist of, dumbass." He sighed. "No one ever told me what happened with my body. I mean, it's not even my real body. Probably just a sort of projection of my spirit?"

That explanation left me even more confused. "Then what is your real body? And where is it?"

Thatch laughed shortly. "Oh, my real body looked exactly the same. But it's probably buried and perished long ago. Probably not more than bones now."

I gawked at him. "You were human?!"

"Yes, I used to be human. But that's a long, long time ago, so shall we forget about it now?"

"But…" I pouted. "How did you become a genie?"

The brown haired man rubbed his temples. "Ace, let's save that story for another time. Shouldn't you be thinking of your next wish?"

I shot him an annoyed look for changing the subject. "Why? No need to hurry, right?"

He shrugged. "I wouldn't mind if you'd hurry."

There were a thousand and one questions I still wanted to ask him, but eventually I decided to save them for another time. The genie was obviously not in the mood to talk about his past now. Or he just didn't trust me with the story, which was very plausible. After all, he had known me for only a day now. I still wasn't sure why I had trusted him with my biggest secret.

"So, you're gonna go to the palace tomorrow, correct?" Thatch asked in a lighter tone than the one he had been speaking in before.

"Yeah, I agreed to meet Izo at the Wall, around eleven o'clock tomorrow morning," I answered, though I didn't really know why I explained it. Thatch must already have heard it when I set that date.

"Can I come with you?"

I looked at him to see whether he was serious or not. "No, of course not. Izo is a thief. If I would show him my genie, I'm pretty sure he would try to steal you."

The man seemed to think for a moment. "What if I pretend to be a dog?"

The surprise probably showed on my face. "You can?"

"Yeah, I can take on different forms." He nodded. "But like I said, it takes some effort, especially if I want to stay in that form for a longer time. But it's better than staying inside that lamp all the time."

I shook my head. "I could just leave you and the lamp here… then you could stay outside too."

"Yeah, but…" he protested, the argument dying on his lips.

"Why do you want to go so badly?"

The genie shrugged. "I like to be outside, going on adventures. Besides, I want to see Izo. I mean, with what you've told about him, I'm curious about what he looks like."

I thought about it for a moment, but then laughed at the idea. "I will sneak into the palace. I can't go walking around with a dog!"

I sighed as I walked in the direction of the place, pulling the cap of my coat a bit further over my head. Beside me trotted an ordinary looking street dog.

"You should call me Stefan."

I shot the animal an annoyed look. "Dog's don't talk, Thatch." Again, somehow, the genie had convinced me to take him with me. He seemed to have a gift for that. However, he had agreed to stay outside the palace walls.

"It's Stefan!" the dog corrected me. "Woof."

I burst out laughing. "Dogs don't say 'woof' either, idiot. They bark." Rolling my eyes, I asked, "Are you even capable of barking?"

This question was answered by a series of noises that probably had to resemble barking. It was almost convincing. "Just keep your mouth shut, Stefan. That's the most believable."

"Right," the animal said, smiling.

"Don't smile either. That's creepy."

We reached a more crowded part of the city and my pet conveniently shut up. A little while later we reached the tall palace walls, where Izo was already waiting. The man was wearing dark, greyish yellow clothes, making him look almost invisible against the walls of the city's buildings, if you weren't expecting him. However, the clothes were still eastern woman's clothes.

My pet did some kind of bark to greet the man. I had to admit it was the best sounding one he'd made, but still shot him an angry look. "Ssht!"

Izo raised his perfectly styled eyebrows. "Is he with you?"

"Yeah, this is my dog, Stefan," I explained. "I had to take him out or he would go crazy." That wasn't even a lie.

"Stefan?" The crossdresser gave the dog an investigating look, but then shook his head. "He'd better not get in the way of our plan."

"Of course not. He'll just stay here and wait." I watched the dog who was happily wagging his tail. Then I looked back at Izo. "So what is the plan?"

"Alright, it's pretty simple. You already know the princess, so you're going in and try to befriend her. Behind this wall are the royal gardens. I've heard she spends most of her time there," the man explained. "I'll stay here and keep the escaping route free of unnecessary obstacles."

A little confused I cocked my head. "You're not coming with me?"

"Oh, I'd love to come with you, honey." He paused a little longer than necessary, as if to give the words some time to sink in, before continuing. "But it's a little risky. Let's save that for next time. You'll first have to scout the palace. That way it reduces the chance of one of us getting caught."

It reduces the chance of you getting caught, I thought a little annoyed. But it didn't matter. I wouldn't get caught anyway. "And how exactly am I going to get in?" I asked, though I did have an idea about that.

Izo looked skeptically at me. "You jump over the wall. Or fly. Whatever you call it. Use those hot powers of yours. I know you can."

I looked up at the giant wall. It was at least some thirty feet high, possibly more. "Yeah, that should be possible."

A quick look around told me we were alone at that moment. "Alright, keep an eye on Stefan for me, will you?" I cast a last warning look at my genie, hoping he wouldn't do anything stupid. Then my lower body burst into flames and I shot up into the air.

Within a few seconds I landed on top of the wall. This seemed like a nice place for some first observations. However, the wall was less thick than I had anticipated and I lost my balance.

With a loud 'thud!' I hit the ground on the inside of the wall, face flat against the grass covered earth. I caressed the sore spot on my head, where flames were licking at my skin. I sighed because of my own clumsiness and sat up to take a look around. I was surprised to look right at the face of a giant duck. It looked back at me as if he had never seen something like me before. Well, he probably didn't see men falling from the sky every day.

He blinked. I blinked. Would he be edible? I could at least bring back some food.

As if the duck read my mind, he slowly took a step back, his gaze never leaving me.

I stood up, carefully slow, to make sure I didn't scare the animal away. Licking my lips, I imagined the taste of duck. It had been so long ago since I had had one. And this one was huge, so Izo and Thatch could easily eat from it too. Realizing I was drooling, I wiped my mouth.

"Quaaack!" the duck screamed and ran away. I tried to pursue it, but after a few second I already noticed my attempt was in vain. How could a duck be so damn fast?

I stopped and sighed. Well, alright, no duck tonight then. Now I really took a good look around. Behind me was the immense wall I had come over. I had indeed landed in the royal gardens, as Izo had predicted. There was grass growing on the ground and a few trees that half hid the palace from my sight. With my mouth open, I looked at the building. Everything was so big! Seen from the city, the tall walls made it almost impossible to take a good look at the palace. But from here it looked so… majestic.

Suddenly I noticed a guard at one of the palace doors. Quickly I pressed my back against the nearest tree to hide myself, even though I was pretty sure the guard wasn't even looking my way. I couldn't be careful enough. Cautiously I looked around the tree towards the palace again.

"Quack, quaaack!" the familiar sound seemed to reach me even before I saw the animal to whom it belonged, in the distance. Shit, shit, shit! That duck was going to reveal my presence, wasn't he? He was going to show the guards! I looked up at the tree to see if I could hide there. There was one branch that looked big enough to support my weight, but I would still be in plain sight. Still, I could try. Maybe they didn't look high enough to see me there.

However, when I looked aside, the duck was already standing there, carrying a familiar blue haired girl on his back. She seemed surprised to see me, but not necessarily in a good way.

I laughed sheepishly, a little caught off guard. "Hello Your Highness."

"You?! What are you doing here?" she asked, while the duck cautiously walked closer to me. "Are you trying to get caught after all?"

Rolling my eyes, I recovered myself. "My name's Ace, remember? Not 'you'. I thought you knew that so well." I said it, but at the same time I realized that to her, I probably wasn't more than just another subject. But I was here to change that, after all.

"Ace," she said calmly, stepping from her duck and walking towards me, but not before she petted the animal to reassure him. "You scared Carue. How did you get in here?"

So Carue was the duck's name? Shrugging I answered her question. "I jumped over the wall."

She looked disbelieving at me, then up at the giant wall and back. "I guess that's possible, if it's you," she murmured. "Are you here to steal from me?"

Was I that obvious? "No, of course not."

"Then why are you here?" she asked, seemingly believing my lie.

"I wanna talk to you some more. Our encounter yesterday was very… interesting," I answered, which was true. I hadn't expected to meet her in a back alley.

I sat down against the tree in the soft grass. How was the stuff even able to grow in such a dry climate? "Since you asked me what I was doing here, I think it's only fair if you told me what you were doing in that alley yesterday."

Vivi shrugged. "I just happened to see you, so I went after you. You stole from someone and I couldn't just let that happen."

Laughing, I shook my head. "Princess, you were alone and incognito," I pointed out, looking her in the eyes.

She sighed and looked around. "Fine, I'll talk to you, but not here. The risk of someone seeing you is too high." Climbing back on her duck, she instructed, "Make sure you get behind that tree unseen." She pointed at the tree closest to the palace that was still big enough to hide behind. "I'll take care of the guard at the door."

Quickly I jumped onto my feet. "But where are we… going?" My question died on my lips as the princess had already taken off. Was she planning to take me into the palace? That was just too easy. I smiled and sneaked from tree to tree, making my way towards the last one without being spotted.

I waited a little while, making sure to breath soundlessly, when I heard footsteps nearing. They were heavy steps, definitely not the princess', nor the duck's. I held my breath, to guarantee the approaching guard wouldn't hear me. However, the steps came closer and closer. Shiiit, had he seen me? Maybe not, maybe he just wanted to check, to make sure. But what if he saw me?

Well, than I would just burn him to crisps. Yeah, no problem. Except the plan would be kind of ruined. I closed my eyes when the footsteps had almost reached me.

Suddenly a short, but pinch high scream tore the sky apart. The footsteps rapidly distanced themselves from me and my breath escaped in a relieved sight.

"Princess Vivi, what's wrong?" I heard a male voice say.

"I saw a rat! A giant one!" That was unmistakably the voice of the royal heir. I had to keep myself from sticking my head around the tree to watch what was going on, but I really didn't need to be seen by a guard.

"It was in the east side, near the wall!" she continued, sounding distraught. "Please take it away!"

"Of course, Your Highness."

After that, I didn't hear anything anymore for a few seconds. Until I heard my name. "Ace!"

I looked around to see Vivi gesturing me to come closer. When I was sure there were no guards around, I hurried towards the palace, where she was waiting.

"Come on, we'll go to my room, there we'll be able to talk freely," she said as she walked inside.

Cautiously I followed her, not really sure she wasn't luring me into a trap. Because why wouldn't she? She really had no reason to be kind to me. Still, I followed.

I looked around at all the foreign beauty that was inside the building. Never ever in my life had I dreamed to be walking around in such a rich place, let alone the freaking palace! Then I remembered I was supposed to be a scout and paid more attention to where we were going. The giant halls were almost completely empty. The one person that was in them was far away and was standing with his back towards us, so he wasn't a problem. It was hard to focus, however, because I was so overwhelmed by all the richness of the building. Never before had I felt so out of place.

Suddenly Vivi pulled my arm to the right. I had been so distracted that I hadn't noticed she had gone that way.

"How can you live here?" I asked whispering, while going after her.

She looked at me. "What do you mean?"

What, did I have to explain that? She obviously didn't have any trouble with living like this then. "It's so big and empty and… expensive," I explained. "How can you feel comfortable and at home at such a place?"

She shrugged. "I've lived here my whole life, I don't know any better."

Funny, really, how she chose the word 'better' and not 'worse'.

"However, sometimes it does feel – " She stopped talking as she stopped in her track. "Never mind. We're here."

She opened the door we were standing in front of, and let me in. I stepped a little hesitantly inside. It was the princess' bedroom, after all. Well, it might just be her bedroom, but it was just as big as my whole apartment! And a lot more luxurious, of course, but that was about the easiest thing to achieve in this world.

As I walked through the room, she closed the door again, so no one would see nor hear us. "Please sit down," she said. "On the bed or on a chair, or the sofa… whatever you like." She was obviously a little embarrassed.

I looked at the chairs and to the turquoise sofa, but my gaze ended at the grand bed. Could I? It looked damn soft. Well, she said I could, so why not?

With a jump I let myself fall down on the comfortable mattress and sheets. I pulled my feet on top of the bed too and laid down on my back. A deep moan escaped my throat and I closed my eyes. This feeling… this was heaven and I was drifting on a cloud.

"Uhm…"

I opened my eyes to look at the princess again. Her cheeks were covered with a blush and her lips were curved into a small smile. "I, uhm, I would appreciate it if you took off your boots before putting your feet on top of my bed."

I looked at my black footwear and quickly sat up. "I'm sorry." As soon as I could I pulled my feet out of the boots and threw the items on the floor. I checked the sheets. Just a little sand on them, but that was nothing special in a country like this. Contently I lay down again.

Vivi herself sat down in an armchair. "So… do you want to tell me some more about yourself? About where you live, maybe, or your backgrou–"

I interrupted her, not falling for her distraction. "You were going to tell me, princess," I looked her in the eyes, "why you were walking around in the city by yourself, hidden under that big hood."

She looked shocked at me, obviously not used to being interrupted. Then she cast off her eyes and sighed. She let her head drop. "I… I just couldn't handle it anymore. I had to go out, see for myself what the city looked like, how the people really are! All I've ever known is this palace and the few times I'm allowed outside, I'm surrounded by tons of guards and everything always seems nice and peaceful. But then I heard stories that weren't so nice and peaceful. Stories about thieves and violence and things being burned down for no purpose!" At her last words, she looked accusingly at me. "People desperately tried to hide those stories from me, but I still heard the guards talk amongst themselves. I occasionally read something that wasn't meant for me, but what my father had left about in his office. I don't understand. I need to rule one day, right? I should know what is going on! Why is everyone keeping this from me? Pretending like this world is perfect?"

A tear rolled down her cheek. "I could only think of one thing; going out on my own. Without anyone knowing of it, I walked into the city. Amongst many things, I saw you stealing. When I noticed that fire, I knew you were the one people had been talking about when they thought I couldn't hear them, Firefist. So…" She wiped away the tear. "So I learned that not everyone is living relatively wealthy and happy. However, I'm still not sure why you need to be stealing."

So that was how it was? Lying on my side, I studied her face. She seemed really frustrated and confused and I was not sure what to say. On the one hand I couldn't believe her naivety about the world, but at the same time I could understand where it came from. If she was locked up in here all the time…

"I haven't seen much yet, however. And now they are keeping an extra eye on me, so that I won't escape again. The guards at the entrance have gotten specific instructions not to let me out and check upon everyone who could possibly be me in disguise." She let out a frustrated groan. "Really, my father is sweet, but takes 'keeping me safe' a little too far. He can't keep me save from the whole world. I need to know these things!"

"So… you're actually a captive in your own home." It was more a statement than a question. She nodded barely visible. "Then you should understand what I said about freedom. That it isn't right to take it away."

She thought about it for a moment and then nodded slowly. "But… you are free… you obviously don't care about others. What others think or like or anything. You do whatever you like."

I sat up, a little offended. "It's not like I murder people or something! I just steal to get around and sometimes I need to set something on fire in the process. Besides that, I only use violence to defend myself and my freedom. I am only free as long as I stay out of the hands of your people."

"They are hardly my people!" Vivi defended herself. "Like I said, I have almost no control over anyone outside, even in, this palace. So they are just as much my people as you a–"

"Your Highness?" A voice from outside the room interrupted our talk. It was followed by a knocking on the door. I looked a little worried at Vivi, but she looked plainly shocked back. Shit, someone came to check upon her and was about to discover my presence.

"Princess Vivi," the man continued. "Are you in there? Can I come in, yoi?"

TBC~!

OMG, am I going to leave you there? Sure as hell I am! :D

see you next chapter~!

and please leave a review saying what you thought of this chapter/the story until now and/or theories you have (if you have any) :D it encourages me to write faster ;)