Oi! Ten thousand years will give you such a crick in the neck.

[mywillisthine]

When in his bottle, Cyrus tried not to count the days. Usually, he couldn't even see day light since the grate was on the bottom of the bottle so he couldn't if he tried. But his bottle had landed on it's side in this new strange city so he'd had a view of not only the sun but the goings on of the new city.

He never thought he'd seen a realm as strange as Wonderland...but this city was coming close. The people of the city had been running around with strange powers and magic and no one seemed to be in control of themselves. What kind of realm had so many people inexperienced with magic? From the stories Alice had told him of her world, there was no magic. Maybe this was a world where magic had been introduced just recently? Who knew.

Cyrus would never know until someone found his bottle and that was only a manner of waiting. He really hated waiting. It only led his thoughts to wander and wonder where Alice was and if she was alright. Not even the distraction of watching this new world could completely purge his love from his thoughts.

Comments

[itwillbeokay]

It was a good day that day. Clementine had even dressed in a nice dress, a whole like what she used to do on her birthdays back home. It feels like some kind of normalcy after a week of bad things, and she's glad for it. Taking a more scenic route to her home from school, she wasn't really paying attention to where she was going, which nearly led to her stepping on an object on the ground.

She spotted it though, just in time. It was hard not to stare once she did. The bottle looked like it ought to be in an antique store, not just laying there in the street. She wondered if someone lost it, though she couldn't begin to wonder how she'd find who did.

Still, it didn't seem right to leave it where it was, where it could accidentally be broken or make someone trip. Stooping down, she carefully picked it up and started to turn it in her hands to get a closer look.

[mywillisthine]

The girl had come when Cyrus was sleeping so it was a shock when suddenly his bottle started to move. It had been days, he'd begun to think no one was going to find his bottle at this rate. He braced himself against the side and waited for the stopper to be removed.

Time to face his first master in this new world.

[itwillbeokay]

The stopper eventually was the last thing she checked out. A part of her wondered if something was inside it. She briefly wondered if it was a good idea to open it, but it really didn't seem all that dangerous. Maybe there was something inside that could tell her who dropped it.

It took a little bit of pulling, but after a good tug she pulled hard enough to get it off completely.

[mywillisthine]

Smoke began to circle him and Cyrus closed his eyes as he felt the magic take hold. Whatever happened, he'd meet it with the idea that it was one step closer to getting back to Wonderland and Alice.

The same red smoke came pouring out of the bottle and started swirling in the air beside Clementine. It swirled upward until it reached Cyrus' height, then dissipated to reveal the genie within. He stood with his head bowed and his hand clasped loosely together in front of him. When faced with a new master, he found the submissive posture tended to work in his favor.

But when he ventured a look up, he was surprised to see a young girl standing in front of him. That...wasn't at all what he'd expected. "Mistress mine, my will is thine. Tell me your wishes three." Once he said the traditional words, he cocked his head and asked curiously, "It was you who opened my bottle?"

[itwillbeokay]

Clementine had assumed a few things would be in the bottle. Normal bottle things. What she got instead was a weird smoke, which almost made her drop the bottle to begin with. She took a step back as the smoke kept coming, her eyes as wide as saucers.

And then the smoke was gone, and there was a man. A person had just come out of the bottle, and he was talking about wishes, and on some level she recognized it all, but at the same time all she knew was someone just sprang out of a tiny bottle and now he was asking her if she did it. He didn't seem angry but -

It was hard not to panic a little.

"Oh, I - I'm sorry! I didn't know someone was in this!" she stammered, wondering if she had somehow did something she shouldn't have. It was the most bizarre thing she ever apologized for, but she had no idea what else to say. With the stopper still in hand, she asked, "Do you want me to put this back on?"

[mywillisthine]

Cyrus had never had a master so young before so that alone was a surprise. He'd also never had a master apologize before. And he thought the strangest it could get was Alice walking into his bottle...

He spread his hands and smiled kindly, not wanting to frighten her. "You can put the stopper back in if you'd like. It's yours to do with as you wish," As much as it pained him to say it, it was true "If you wish me to go back inside, you only have to say. I didn't mean to frighten you."

[itwillbeokay]

His demeanor started to ease her initial fear. He didn't seem angry at all. In fact, he was the complete opposite of angry. Clementine found him so willing to do whatever she asked she was a new sort of surprised.

"Oh, it's okay. You just surprised me," she admitted, feeling a little sheepish now that it was clear he wasn't upset. Still, the whole business of being the one to tell him what to do was a little strange. She wasn't sure what to make of it. With a shake of her head, she added, "No, that's not - I don't want you to go into it unless you want to, okay? I was just making sure I didn't do something bad."

Now that she was less scared, the whole situation started to remind her of something that seemed really familiar. The lamp with someone in it was what tipped her off the most, and while it seemed completely impossible, she knew she had to ask.

"Um, wait, are - are you a genie?" she asked, sounding like she couldn't believe she was suggesting such a thing herself. The only genie she had ever seen was blue and very much in a cartoon movie. He had mentioned wishes though, hadn't he?

[mywillisthine]

Cyrus wasn't angry at all. He was more concerned about frightening her. He knelt down on one knee, to be on the same level as her, figuring that if she wasn't looking up at him, he wouldn't be so imposing.

His smile was genuine as he replied to her concerns about the bottle. "It's up to my master to decide if I stay in my bottle or not. As much as it's my home and I'm fond of it, I would rather stay out here, if you wouldn't mind." It was clear she was not going to be like any of his strict masters so he didn't fear making the request.

Then he laughed lightly. "My name is Cyrus and I am a genie. Your genie. Hold out your hand." He requested kindly.

[itwillbeokay]

Even when he confirms it, it's a little hard to wrap her head around. She had seen a lot of strange things in the city, but somehow the idea of genies existing in real life here never even crossed her mind as possible.

At least he really did seem nice. He had a kind smile too, that really put her at ease. She was pretty sure bad genies existed if the movie had anything to say about it, so apparently she at least found a nice one.

"Okay, you can stay out," she replied, not really even giving that a second thought. It was still doing what he wanted, technically, even though she felt a little weird giving orders. Tilting her head at the request, she did offer her open palm to him, not really sure what to expect. She did remember to introduce herself, though, offering him a small smile as she replied, "I'm Clementine."

[mywillisthine]

In his decades of serving various masters, Cyrus had gotten very good at reading people, to the point he could almost predict what they were going to wish for. He didn't bother tying with Clementine because he had a feeling in his gut that he wouldn't have to worry about her wishes.

"Thank you, Clementine." He used her name vice the proper address of mistress, figuring it would put her more at ease. Then he waved his hand over hers, making three small red jewels appear in her hand. "These are your wishes, to do with as you please as long as they follow the rules of magic."

[itwillbeokay]

Clementine wasn't really sure what to expect. Tiny gems definitely wasn't it. She peered at them curiously. She had never thought about what wishes looked like as things before, but she guessed she had the answer anyway.

"Wow, they're pretty," she said, examining them a little closer. Glancing at him, she asked, "Um, what are the rules?"

[mywillisthine]

"They are yours unless you gift them to someone else, however they can not be stolen." He clarified as he watched her examine them.

Then he settled his elbow on his knee as he started to explain. "The rules of magic say that I can not kill anyone, nor bring anyone back from the dead. I also can not change the past, nor make anyone fall in love." He paused, his bottom lip between his teeth before he added, "I must also warn you, the bigger the wish, the bigger the consequences, so please, think carefully before you wish."

[itwillbeokay]

Clementine nodded, understanding. They weren't the kinds of things she would wish for anyway, she didn't think. The warning was something she paid close attention to. She didn't want anything bad to happen because of her.

"Um, do I have to make them all now?" she asked, biting her lip.

[mywillisthine]

Cyrus shook his head with a kind smile. "No, of course not. You can have as long as you like to decide. I am yours to command until then." It was actually a relief. If it couldn't be Alice, at least a child wouldn't abuse the power he offered nor the fact his will was hers. Or so he hoped.

[itwillbeokay]

"Okay," she nodded. She would have to really think about it then. And probably talk to Andrea, because she wasn't really sure if she should be making wishes without her knowing.

"Oh, um, if you're my genie, I guess you need to come along with me? I don't know if we have a lot of room for you to stay out of your bottle," she admitted, feeling bad about the idea already. With Spike, it was a pretty full apartment now. She wasn't entirely sure Andrea would be happy having her randomly invite someone to sleep over until she made her wishes. "Do you have an apartment here, too?"

[mywillisthine]

"Genies are usually prized possessions. Most masters don't want to let us out of their sight for fear of their wishes being stolen." Cyrus explained though it was very clear he didn't hold much to that thought. "In truth, it's up to you. Our relationship and my living arrangements are completely up to you as my mistress. I can live apart from my bottle if need be or I am content to live within it."

But then he gave her a confused look. "An apartment here? What do you mean?"

[itwillbeokay]

Clementine hadn't even considered he might not know about Darrow. It sort of made sense, though. She had never heard of a genie in the city until now. Maybe someone was keeping it a secret, like he said people did, but maybe he was new.

"I think everyone gets someplace to live when they end up here," she said. Admittedly, she didn't know if he counted because he had the bottle, but if he could stay outside it, she wanted to check. Just in case. The next question was something she was almost used to asking at that point. "Do you know where you are right now?"

[mywillisthine]

"Actually," Cyrus said honestly, looking down to the ground then around them before looking back to Clementine. "I don't. It's certainly not where I came from. What realm is this?"

[itwillbeokay]

Clementine didn't know what he meant by realm, but she guessed he meant city name.

"Oh, you are new. Um, this is Darrow. People come here from all over without knowing why," she explained. She had yet to be told how to explain the city otherwise, even if it as pretty vague. "I bet you showed up like I did and a whole lot of other people did, you were just in your bottle when you came."

[mywillisthine]

"I wish I could say this was the first time something like this has happened to me but sadly..." Cyrus sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "It's not. This was just a little more sudden. Last time it was through the result of a wish." It couldn't be any worse then Wonderland, right?

Even if he wanted with all his heart to be in Wonderland right then.

"Tell me about this Darrow. I've observed some of it from my bottle and I must say, I'm a bit confused."

[itwillbeokay]

"It's kind of a weird place. It's not always bad, though," she offered. Clementine wasn't sure what he saw, but she had a feeling if she saw any of what happened in the last little while. That was definitely not normal, and she was glad it was over. "I'm not from here, either. One moment I was back home, the next, I'm here. I've been here for a long time, now."

[mywillisthine]

"So it's commmon place for people to just appear here by magic." That was a relief actually. It meant that it may have been the magic of this place that had brought him and not that something had happened to Alice. "You have no idea how glad I am to hear that."

[itwillbeokay]

"I don't know if it's magic. Um, magic is just in fairy tales where I come from, and I'm still here," she explained. Though there was a moment Clementine wondered if she should have said that - was it right to say things were stories in her world? She hadn't mentioned anything specifically, so she thought she was okay. "I think some people come from places with magic, though!"

[mywillisthine]

Thankfully, Cyrus had heard of such a things, between Agrabah and Wonderland and between Wonderland and England from Alice.

But he found it hard to believe there was no magic here. "Are you sure about magic? I've been watching the city through the grate in the bottom of my bottle for a few days now and something was happening. It looked like magic, from my experience." Not that he doubted her but either he'd just happened to see quite a few of the people from magical places at once or something magical had had happened to upset a lot of people.

[itwillbeokay]

"Well, there's magic here. But there sure wasn't any where I came from, not at all. Um, the magic you saw, though - that doesn't usually happen. People woke up and they were different, they could do things or they got changed somehow. That's something this place can do, too," she said, trying not to frown at the memory of what Andrea had gone through. "So I don't know how it brought me. I don't think anyone does, and they come from lots of places and different times, too."

[mywillisthine]

"They woke up different?" Cyrus mused on this for a moment, his eyebrows furrowed. "This place is much stranger then Wonderland."

He shook his head. "Other then strange magic, what else is there to know about this city?"

[itwillbeokay]

"Wonderland? That's real, too?" she repeated, forgetting for a moment she was probably supposed to act like she never heard of it. Thing was, there were definitely no genies in Wonderland. That was really weird. Then again, she wasn't entirely sure why she was surprised anymore. "Um - no one can leave. It's like they get turned around when they do. And like I said, there should be a packet of lots of stuff waiting for you, since you came here like everyone else did."

[mywillisthine]

Cyrus only chuckled lightly. He was not surprised Wonderland's reputation preceded it. He was friends with a rabbit who dug holes between worlds after all. "It is very real, just as real as Agrabah or wherever you are from."

He did not like the idea that no one could leave and found it hard to believe. Perhaps they had no found the right magic. He refused to think he would be so separated from Alice so completely again. So he moved on from that idea to the next. "Where would I find this packet then? I suppose the only answer to that would be for me to look for it." Though he would not be surprised if he didn't have one. Genies rarely counted as people, as he'd gotten used too.