Make a Wish

The young princess opens her eyes to find herself in a cave filled with luminescent blue crystals. Her mind runs through everything that had just happened. They merely escaped Iblīs, and Zassul and Amrita were injured in the process. She was afraid something like this would happen. She considers herself lucky she only came out with a few scratches. However, looking around this strange cave, her friends are nowhere in sight.

“Zassul!” She calls out. Her voice bounces off of the stone walls of the cave, disappearing into its dark horizon.

“It’s alright.” The woman who spoke to her before presents herself to the young princess again. But she still refuses to give away her appearance. “Your friends are resting.” She tries to reassure the princess, but after what just happened, worry is going to be stricken through all three of them. Iblīs won’t let this go. “I would like to speak with you privately.”

The luminescent crystals granting light to the cave slowly begins to emit a mist. It travels along the cave’s path like a beacon, leading the young princess to its exit.

“Walk to the end of the cave.” The unknown woman instructs. “I will meet you there.”

As the young princess steps out of the cave, she is met with an otherworldly aura. A grove engulfs the outside of the cave, the trees and plants glowing with the same blue light as the crystal. Water cuts through the ground, carrying light that the vegetation sucks up.

The young princess is speechless. Despite all that has happened, being in the presence of this aura has put her at ease. This grove, it’s almost too perfect for this world.

The blue light appears in the centre of the grove within the pond. A figure slowly forms within it, revealing a woman draped in a long, white gown. Long, green and blue wings extend from her back, shimmering in the light of the grove. Her mid length, bobbed hair is an icy blue that hugs her pitch black skin. Nothing can be seen on her face except her glowing blue eyes that are covered by long bangs and a white mask.

“Welcome, ______.” She speaks calmly to the young princess, sending a slight wave of ease. Even though she appears as a spirit, her aura is as soothing as the atmosphere.

The young princess draws closer and stands before her. “Ethereal.” She says to her.

Even though she has no mouth, the young princess can sense a smile as she sees her eyes slightly curve upward. “Yes.” Ethereal responds with a nod.

The young princess continues to look around the grove. “What is this place?”

“It’s not Hell, if that’s what you’re wondering. It’s just a place that I call home.”

The young princess can’t help but sigh with relief. Not just because she’s out of that horrible place, but because she can finally try to make sense of everything that has happened. “I have so many questions for you.”

Yes, I know why you’re here. It took a lot of courage making it this far. You and your friends have impressed me. So I shall help you. If you fell into Iblīs’ hands, that would be the end of my freedom as well.”

“How did you find us?”

“I felt a great disturbance in Iblīs’ chakra when you fought him off. I monitor him constantly from afar. You were easy to find after that.”

“Where did he go? What happened to him?”

“Instead of him sending your friends to the Oblivion, you sent him instead. However, the Oblivion was created by him. So he will easily escape from it. But you’re not in Hell anymore, so you’re free. You’ve got some remarkable power hidden within you.”

The young princess gasps in shock. “That force came from me!?”

“Yes, and it’s the same power that can put an end to all of this. So I want to help you master it. I’m sure you have questions. What do you wish to know?”

“Where do I even start?” Now that the time has finally come for her questions to be answered, she can’t figure out what she wants to know first. There’s so much she needs to know. “I guess…” If anything, she should start with her friends. “What can you tell me about Zassul and Amrita? Iblīs mentioned how they were after the same thing he was. And I remember Amrita saying something similar when she offered to help us back in the Human World. Zassul asked her why she wanted to help us and she said she was after the same thing he was.”

“Well, I think it will be easier to explain it from the beginning. Before you even knew them, Zassul and Amrita used to work under Iblīs. However, you drew them to the Human World, so they tried to escape him. It seems they were plotting against him for a while because they slipped away so easily. They’ve been hiding from him ever since.”

“I drew them to the Human World?”

“Yes, you did. However, the both of them ended up trapped. Zassul was trapped in that temple you found him in, and Amrita was imprisoned in Abdelus’ castle.”

“Who trapped Zassul?” The young princess asks wearily. She knows how Amrita got into her mess, but Zassul never openly admitted to why he was sealed away in the first place.

“The same man who trapped Amrita. It was Abdelus.”

“What!?”

“It’s more complicated than you think. He’s connected to all of this. He must have sensed something you did and that’s how he found out about your powers. He somehow caught onto your friends and sealed them away to keep them away from you. He obviously couldn’t kill them. They would just return to Hell and then find another way back to the surface.”

The young princess shakes her head, utterly mindblown. “But that doesn’t make any sense! I didn’t even know I was gifted until I met Zassul and accidentally broke through his seal! How could anyone have figured out I was gifted before then!?”

“It’s simple. You’ve used your magic before.”

“But I haven’t! How could I have without knowing!?”

“Anything can trigger magic. Anger. Sadness. Love. Hate. Grief. Any type of emotion can trigger magic. You must have just not noticed it.”

“I just don’t understand. Why did Zassul keep all of this from me?”

“He’s a djinn. Deception is what he does best. As to why he refused to tell you that Abdelus is behind all of your pain and suffering, is something you need to ask him yourself.”

The young princess falls silent as the heavy weight in her chest sinks further into her stomach. She always knew what he was, and she knows she hasn’t known him for very long. But it was the first time anyone has ever truly been on her side. She knows her parents love her, but when they needed her to get something done, they would always throw her feelings aside. This arranged marriage is a great example.

Ethereal pulls her out of her thoughts. “Think back. There must have been some point in your life where something unnatural happened.”

The young princess sighs as she sifts through her memories. A sudden explosion followed by shattering rocks begins to engulf her mind. “Well…” She starts. She wonders if it really was just a dream. After everything that has happened within the span of just a few days, perhaps it wasn’t. “When I was younger, I was outside walking along the castle garden and there was an earthquake. Part of one of our statues tipped over. Before it fell on me, it miraculously shattered into pieces and I was saved.”

“You saved yourself. You shattered that statue.”

“So, I guess that’s what gave me away then. But that means that my parents were planning this marriage for a while. I just needed to turn __. That’s the lawful age in my country to marry. I turned __ just a month ago. Then a few days later my parents began acting so strange.” The young princess fights back her tears. “So, then what do they want with this power I have? What can I even do for them besides break seals?”

“He wants to link himself with you so he can obtain your powers and become stronger. Don’t take that the wrong way though. Obtaining your powers doesn’t mean hurting you or leaving you without them. You share them willingly. Abdelus is a strange one. I’m still unsure about his true intentions. But my theory is that he wants to dethrone Iblīs and destroy the world. Iblīs may be your enemy, but he did save you from the wedding by attacking the castle.”

“Can you explain Linking more?”

“To put it simply, it’s combining yourself with another so they will inherit your power.”

“But that does sound painful.”

“It’s not exactly what you think.”

The young princess begins to grow impatient. “Okay. So what is it?”

Ethereal hesitates for a moment before revealing it to her. “Intimacy.”

The young princess blinks a few times. “Excuse me?” She is met with a small chuckle from Ethereal. “It’s not funny! You had better be joking!”

“It’s very similar to consummating one’s marriage. Except in this case, sexual contact equals ownership.”

“I am not an object!”

“Of course you’re not. However, you are the most important woman in the world right now. You have a lot of power you can give. Linking with someone will make them stronger.”

The young princess cannot help but facepalm herself. Out of all the absurd things she has had to deal with, this one is beyond the pale.

“Once you reach your full potential, you’ll possess an immense amount of power. Enough power to destroy Iblīs and Abdelus. Iblīs cannot be killed, naturally. But you can tighten his seal, making it so he can’t even interact with his own demons.”

“Okay, slow down. You lost me at the Linking nonsense. I am supposed to have sex with someone and I link myself with them?”

“Yes. But it’s not just the sex part. You have to form a bond with them. Afterwards, you’ll be connected to each other. Then they’ll grow stronger and they’ll learn to cast greater spells using your chakra.”

“So I’m supposed to fall in love with someone?”

“Yes. Fall in love.”

“You say it like it’s so simple. I don’t think you truly understand how much meaning the word ’love’ has.”

“I understand its meaning. You have a strong bond with Zassul. Let him take it.”

The young princess’ face begins to burn like fire. She wonders if it really is the right thing to do. She still has some things that need to be cleared up with him before she can treat him like her ally again. However, she can’t help but consider it. She’s been desperately trying to find a way to free herself from Abdelus and the arranged marriage. This could be her chance to change her fate.

“As for Amrita,” Ethereal continues. “I would not trust such a power with something like her. I have my doubts about her true intentions anyway. You don’t have to make the decision now. What I’m more interested in at the moment is teaching you how to use your magic.”

“How will you teach me?”

“Simple training. I’ll coach you as best I can. But in the end, it will be you who determines how strong you can become. If you put in the effort, you will be victorious.”

“Alright, so what now?”

“Get some rest. Believe it or not, you’ve been trapped in the Demon World for five days. Time passes quickly here compared to the Human World. That is why you feel so drained.”

“Five days?” The young princess can’t help but worry about all the chaos that has reigned down in the Human World since her disappearance.

“Your parents are still alive. I can say that much. Do not worry about them. I will help you save them.” Ethereal raises her hand and blue light engulfs the young princess’ body.

The young princess’ surroundings disappear and a bedroom appears in her sight. She turns around and notices Zassul lying in the bed. She swallows down a heavy block in her throat as she approaches him. “How are you doing?”

Zassul pushes himself into a sitting position and places his feet on the ground to sit at the edge of the bed. “I’ve been better. But I’ll be fine.” He pauses for a moment before continuing. “You know, Amrita and I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for what you did. And now we’re with Ethereal. I told you everything was going to work out.”

The young princess takes a deep breath in before she speaks again. “Yes, you were right. She was able to answer all of my questions. She told me about how you used to work under Iblīs, and why you came to the Human World. And she told me about Abdelus.”

“Oh…”

The young princess scowls at him. “Oh? That’s all you’re going to say? You lied to me.”

“I didn’t lie to you. I just...didn’t want you to know.”

“Right, so you lied to me. Both you and Amrita acted like you knew nothing about Abdelus.”

Zassul shrugs as he holds his relaxed, blank expression. “I never denied anything to you.”

“Abdelus locked you up in that temple. You knew I was being forced to marry him, and you didn’t think to warn me about him?”

“And tell you what? When you asked me if he was involved with the dark arts, I didn’t lie to you. I said yes.”

“You didn’t tell me he sealed you away.”

“You didn’t ask.”

The young princess clicks her tongue in annoyance. “Can you stop making stupid excuses?”

“I admit, maybe I stretched the truth a little bit. But I didn’t do it to hurt you. If I told you about Abdelus, he would have been able to tell that you knew about him. And I would have been figured out as well. Why do you think he didn’t recognize me as one of his guards? I was cloaking myself. But you were protecting me as well. Your desire to not let anyone know that you were dealing with a djinn is what kept me hidden.”

The young princess releases a long winded sigh and shakes her head. “Will you just promise to be truthful with me from now on?”

“Yes.”

Her heart begins to beat faster. “There’s…something else.” She timidly looks away from him and at her feet. “Ethereal told me about Linking…”

Zassul chuckles at her response. “If it makes you uncomfortable then you don’t have to talk to me about it.”

“Well, she mentioned how I should choose you. And I agree.”

“If that is what you wish, then I will inherit it.”

The young princess rubs her shoulder. “Just…don’t judge me. I’m not exactly experienced.”

“That doesn’t matter. You’re supposed to fall in love with me. We have to have a strong bond.”

The young princess looks back up at Zassul, surprised at how calm he is when talking about such a thing. As for her, her face is on fire. She nods in response. “It’s just so strange. I have all this power inside me that I could give. And apparently it’s been there ever since I was little. I’m still trying to figure out who I really am. What my origins are. I don’t think Ethereal really knows either.”

“Well, we can find out together.”

The young princess stares at her feet. “Yeah…”

“Your training is going to start tomorrow. You need to rest as much as possible. You can sleep with me.”

She presses her lips together. Unwed men and women are supposed to be separated. That’s what she was taught ever since she was little. Despite the circumstances, she’s not exactly ready. However, she supposes there’s no harm in sleeping side by side.

She places her knee on the bed and Zassul pulls her into his lap and lays down with her against his chest. With her ear against his skin, she notices how calm his heartbeat is compared to hers. Even though he’s a djinn, it beats like a human’s. She feels herself sink into him as her muscles finally begin to relax. Despite everything that has happened, she feels safe in his arms, like nothing can hurt her. Perhaps it won’t be so bad.