"I missed you so much," the djinn girl exclaimed, practically rubbing Sinbad's face to her breasts.

"Ahem," I cleared my throat.

She turned to me in surprise. "Who's this? Did you find a boyfriend?"

Sinbad chuckled. "Something like that. Medela, this is Arash."

"Aww!" Now she closed in on me instead. "Isn't he the cutest thing ever."

I may not have turned eighteen quite yet, but "cute" was not among the things I wanted to be called.

"Don't mind her," Sinbad told me. "She labeled me cute when we first met too."

Not minding her would have been considerably easier if she hadn't latched herself on my back, a very full and bouncy part of her pressing against my shoulders.

Sinbad turned somber all of a sudden. "I guess this is it then..."

Right. My wish was fulfilled. That only left paying the price. We could try to postpone it to the very last day, but that wouldn't really change anything.

"What? What is it?" Medela asked, still not letting go of me.

"A djinn called Rakshi gave Arash his power to save you, and-"

"Rakshi? I bet he wanted his life in exchange."

"Uh...yes."

She squeezed me harder. "Let me handle this! I'm not going to let him take your boyfriend."

"Hold on, what are you-"

Sinbad didn't get to finish that sentence as suddenly we all were back in the chamber where I had been given the ring and the magic to go with it.

"Rakshi! Come on out!" Medela yelled loudly enough to make her voice bounce off the walls.

Another djinn, this one at least four times her size, appeared out of thin air in front of her. He had red-hued skin, graying topknot in his otherwise bald head and long goatee. "Medela. So they succeeded. That only leaves-"

She flew up to his face and promptly twined his beard around her arm. "You old goat! Are you still collecting handsome adventurers?"

"Um..." He might have actually blushed. It was hard to tell since he was already red.

"Sorry, but you can't have this one," she continued. "He's Sinbad's."

"But..."

"Come on, lover boy. For the old times' sake?"

I had to turn to Sinbad to hide a snicker. I had realized she was pushy the moment I met her, but this was priceless.

Rakshi ran his fingers through his topknot. "Alright, alright. Just this once."

Medela squealed in delight and kissed his cheek.

Rakshi abruptly shrunk closer to her size and pushed her an arm's length away. "That's enough, woman."

I was sure he was blushing.

"So what's the story between you two?" Sinbad asked curiously.

"Nothing," Rakshi deadpanned.

"Oh, we go way back. But then this idiot had to go and-"

"Medela! Not everything needs to be blabbered about to mortals," Rakshi grumbled.

"Anyway, Xerxes the Wise sealed him here," she continued. "Since he couldn't be sure who he'd side with."

Now it made sense. I looked at the ring I wore. Flames. The domain of the efreet. "He's not a djinn, is he?" I asked.

Rakshi shot me a murderous enough look to prompt Sinbad to move between us.

"Oh, he is," Medela hurried to explain. "But he was a little too tempted by the powers of fire. There are kind of...consequences if you seek something you should never touch. Now he can't leave this place. So he turned it into a labyrinth to amuse himself with the adventurers lured in by the promise of wishes granted."

Rakshi sighed. I guess he had also figured out that there was no stopping her.

She flew back to Sinbad. "Anyway. Now that this little matter is settled, we better get back to the real task at hand."

Sinbad nodded solemnly.

"What exactly is this task anyway?" I asked. "What are you dragging him into?"

"Me?" Medela asked in surprise. "Sinbad was born for this. To be the great king of all mortal lands and the master of all djinns."

"Uh...Could you explain that again?" My head was starting to hurt just thinking about what she had said. Were we even talking about the same person? The Sinbad I knew was an adventurer and a thief. Not a king.

Sinbad scratched his head, clearly embarrassed. "Medela insists that I'm a direct descendant of King Xerxes and apparently also his reincarnation. I'm not sure if I buy it all."

"But you are!" she protested loudly.

"He can't be!" I yelled straight back at her. "My brother will be the sultan! Sinbad is just a street rat!"

"Arash, that's a little harsh-" Sinbad started, but neither of us really paid any attention to him.

"The King himself told me to wait for one with his blood and spirit! He -saw- that the endless darkness would threaten the world again."

"That's no claim to be king of men!" My world had gotten really crazy in the past month, since it actually felt normal to be arguing with a djinn of all creatures.

Sinbad suddenly pulled me into a hug, my protests muffled by his shoulder. "Arash, I don't care about being a king or whatnot. I just don't want people to get hurt."

I quickly relaxed in his arms. "Sorry..." I murmured.

"Could we have some time alone?" Sinbad asked our two companions.

"Of course..." Medela said quietly. Then she grabbed Rakshi's arm and dragged him away. I could hear him complaining, "He's nothing like Xerxes." before they both disappeared...somewhere.

I felt stupid. Childish. "You can yell at me if you want, you know," I muttered to his shoulder. "I shouldn't have talked about you like that."

Instead of getting angry, Sinbad kissed the side of my head. "Don't worry about it. I've been called much worse."

"That's no excuse. I was raised better."

He chuckled. "I'd say you were raised exactly like all nobility. I don't want to be a king. It's just not a life for me. But..."

I looked to his eyes as he became silent all of a sudden. His brows were furrowed, like he was thinking hard about something, but there was a hint of smile at one corner of his mouth. "But?"

Sinbad practically beamed at me. "But you do, right? Once we awaken the djinns guarding the seals, restore Xerxes's power and stop the darkness, you can become the king of the world."

I definitely had not expected that.

"It would work great, wouldn't it?" he continued. "You were raised as royalty and have watched your father rule his land all this time. You have knowledge that I don't. And this street rat can just do what you think is best with Medela and the other djinns." Then he abruptly let go of me and walked past me. "Medela! Come back! I got a great plan!"

I didn't know what to say or do. Deep inside, the idea of being a greater ruler than my brother did have its appeal. But was I ready for such a responsibility? On the other hand, I could certainly do better than Sinbad could.

"Yes~?" Medela was all over Sinbad again. I hadn't even noticed her come back. Maybe she had just appeared out of thin air. I wasn't sure if I could ever get used to that.

"Arash is going to be the king," Sinbad announced.

"Hmm..." She twisted around to stare intently at me, although she remained firmly glued to him. "Are you sure that it's alright? Xerxes didn't say anything about that."

"Your primary task is to stop the darkness," Rakshi's voice stated. Then the djinn appeared a safe distance from her, his expression sour. "Who will rule after that is not something you should worry about."

"But Xerxes saw-"

"Xerxes saw many things. If the seal breaks, there will not be a world left to rule. So only worry about who the king will be later."

What was his issue now? He couldn't possibly be that angry that he couldn't kill me, right? I certainly hoped so. Maybe he was expecting us to die.

Medela's mouth twisted into a deep frown. The next moment she was at Rakshi's face. "Why do you have to be like that?! We haven't met for ages, and you...you're taking that condescending tone again! I am not a stupid child! Xerxes trusted me! He used to trust both of us, and then you had to mess it up!"

Rakshi didn't move or react in any way to her outburst. He only spoke when she quieted down. "If you know what you must do, then go."

Medela trembled but said nothing. Then she turned her back on him and disappeared, completely forgetting that we didn't have any means to return to the desert on our own.

"You didn't have to treat her like that," Sinbad stated. "She's doing her best."

"I know I didn't have to," Rakshi agreed flatly. "But she must understand that her task is more important than any distractions."

Maybe I was reading too much into it, but I couldn't shake the feeling that Rakshi was trying to distance himself from her. Did he believe they would end up in different sides? I slowly rubbed the ring on my finger. The forbidden power of the efreet...

"As is yours, if you truly are the heir of Xerxes," the djinn continued. Then he waved his hand absent-mindedly, and the hall around us faded out like a mirage in the desert.

~*~*~

Rakshi must have known where she had materialized, because as soon as Sinbad and I appeared at the small oasis, I saw Medela submerged in the water up to her neck. The surface around her was whipping back and forth, like disturbed by an invisible storm.

"She's a djinn of water," Sinbad whispered to me before walking to her side. He removed his shoes, rolled up his pant legs and sat down next to her with his feet dangling in the water.

"Sinbad..." she sniffed like a little girl. Then she hugged him tightly, bawling her eyes out.

Not knowing what else to do, I joined them at the edge of the water. "Was he different before?" I asked.

"Uh huh." Medela nodded and wiped her tears. "We were family. Even after Xerxes sealed him away, I visited him every so often while searching for the next king. He could always be grumpy, but he was never outright mean."

In my opinion, Rakshi's behavior could be called grumpy as it was. Had he been different kind of grumpy before? But what I knew of women included one basic rule: if something makes them upset, never make it seem like a small matter.

Apparently, Sinbad had not learned this vital lesson, though. "He did have a point, though," he said and leaned back on his arms.

Medela glared at him and disappeared underwater.

"Eh?" Sinbad looked completely stunned. "Medela? What happened?"

There was only silence.

"Medela?!" He sounded genuinely worried.

"You made her angry," I offered.

"I noticed, but why?"

I guess he really didn't get it. "Women want sympathy, not advice."

"Oh? And when did you become an expert on women?" He pulled me closer with one arm, grinning. "Is there something I should know about?"

"Of course not!" I pushed him away when he tried to ruffle my hair. "I read books how to be a good husband. I was going to get married to a princess and getting her mad would not have been a good way to start a life together."

The surface of the water rippled softly, and images appeared on it. There was Medela. One of the men with her looked like Rakshi, just younger and...not red. The other I had never seen. He seemed to be a human, though. As the images changed, he aged while the two djinns stayed the same.

They were so close. Even through sadness and pain, they stood together and supported each other.

"I guess I'm not much of a man in comparison, eh?" Sinbad asked.

What was I supposed to say to that? Sinbad wasn't rich or particularly wise as far as knowledge went, but I liked him just as he was. A street rat and an adventurer.

"Xerxes was unique," I heard Medela's voice and saw her slowly swim towards us as the visions on the water faded. "I thought that...that maybe he'd really been reborn."

Sinbad sighed but tried to smile nonetheless. It didn't look very genuine. "Sorry. I'm really no good to be your new king, am I?"

"It's not like that...I believe in you. But...I miss him so much." She wiped her eyes again. "He saved the world. He died to seal the darkness. We would have never won without his sacrifice. So I'm proud of him. But..." She sniffed, tears threatening to overflow. "But..."

Sinbad hopped down to the water, waded over to her and captured her in his embrace.

They were just friends. There was no reason at all to be jealous. There really wasn't.

I had never been very good in convincing myself. She was beautiful. Shapely. There was no reason why Sinbad wouldn't take a liking to her. And since she was so quick to forgive him-

"What's with that expression?" Medela asked.

Only now I noticed that she had moved closer to me. Much closer. And...she wasn't wearing any clothes. My breathing hitched, and my entire body felt hotter than before – despite the desert heat. I had never seen a naked woman before, let alone this close. I was just a man! How was I supposed to not be affected?

Sinbad laughed. "Medela, clothes. You're making Arash, ahem...uncomfortable."

Medela giggled and kissed my cheek. "You're just like Xerxes."

Sinbad clearly found that even more amusing. "You can't blame him."

Medela flew behind Sinbad, who was just returning to dry land only a few feet from me. Tendrils of water rose from the oasis pool and turned into the clothes she had worn earlier. They could have been a lot more covering, but they were still better than none.

"This is the part where I leave you alone, right?" she teased him.

Sinbad gave her a friendly smile. "That would be appreciated."

"I'll send the magic carpet for you." And then she flew away.

"You'll get used to her," Sinbad assured me now that we were alone.

I wasn't that convinced. "How can you ignore her? I mean, she's gorgeous. And the way she clings to you..."

"I only have eyes for you."

That only made things worse! I loved him too, but I still lusted after a beautiful woman.

Sinbad chuckled. "I mean, I'm not attracted to women. At all. Only men. Weird, isn't it?"

It was weird. But in some way, it made me feel better. And just like Xerxes, huh? I guess that the legendary king had also been only a man.