Know Thy Enemy

Jessica felt her Mother's gaze as the two genies allowed Simon back into his room. She was happy to see him, of course. The cheerleader bounced and hugged her Master, squeezing him to the point he let out his utterance of,

"Ow."

He blushed slightly under the eyes of both his girlfriend and her Mother. The genie sensed the guarded nature of her Mother as she watched him closely. Simon was a mixture of emotions, but the one that bothered the Queen of Eastlake most was doubt. Doubt that he was doing something wrong, that he could've treated his girlfriend better – as if she already didn't know he loved her and that he agreed to treat her the way she wanted in the first place. A glare and a puffed pout quickly snapped him from those thoughts. Eventually, Jessica had to break the silence between them and get Mother and Master back on track.

As usual, when she left him alone, Simon had decided to distract himself by trying to solve questions that the two blonde women had a hand in placing into his head. He thought about how genies lived in their own society, how her powers could work in specific ways, the rabbit hole of imagination that came with everything Maridallura had spoken or shown both teens.

Unfortunately for Jessica, her Mother remained stern with Simon. The elder blonde frowned as he sat on the bed beside her Daughter. So much so that Maridallura moved to sit on the other side of the teenage genie herself, as opposed to him. Jealous and Overprotective. Jessica felt her Mother's breasts pressed against her arm, pulling her back and away from her embrace of Simon. It remained with the cheerleader stuck in the middle of a genie sandwich for several long minutes until her Master went to his computer. When Simon sat down and rebooted his monitors, it revealed that his background screen had become one of his photos of his muse displaying herself.

Sprawled out on his bed, modeling in next to nothing,

"Is that you, Jessica?"

Her Mother's question made the genie's face flush as she tried to babble an explanation out to excuse it. The reveal of herself displayed to the camera igniting a fresh tsunami of embarrassment,

"L-Look, Mom, it's not a big deal! We were trying something!"

However, Jessica was anticipating the reaction of a mortal mother who saw their offspring scantily clad, not her own. Instead, Maridallura had a finger to her lips as she looked at the image of her child, the look on her face, and the plaid lingerie from her schoolgirl outfit on that first afternoon back. The elder genie hadn't displayed outrage as much as the clearly enamored expression with the picture of her Daughter in front of her. Her voice spoke with hitched breath, almost aroused,

"Tell me. Are you…on display on the towers in this realm, Jessica?"

Jessica sighed as her Mother once again spoke what sounded like utter gibberish. Displayed on towers in the realm? Why did she have to sound like it was so profound? The genie watched Simon tilt his head as his face turned pink, his embarrassment rising,

"You mean…is Jess displayed like this on billboards?"

Her Mother nodded again, never taking her eyes off the screen and continuing to examine her Daughter's photo. The realization quickly hit the young genie, making her face red. Jessica shot her eyes down to her squirming hands on her lap,

"U-Um…no, Mom. I-I'm not doing that."

"Ah. I see…."

The elder genie shook her head as she also seemed to squirm in precisely the same manner as her Daughter and tried to brush the idea away,

"It… It's probably for the best, then. However, I can imagine that to display yourself in such a way would feel.…"

Maridallura's face turned red as she shook her head again,

"T-Too much exposure will d-draw needless attention from the Masters. It's for the best…."

The teenager squinted at her elder suspiciously,

"I don't see how being on a billboard draws attention from another universe, Mom…."

Jessica looked at her Mother's shuffling eyes and a slight frown. Another of Maridallura's brief self-conscious behavior caused her Daughter's emerald eyes to widen. Was her Mother disappointed that her Daughter's sexualized body wasn't being modeled on billboards?

The elder genie glanced at her Master's computer background again, bowed her head, and finally mumbled under her breath,

"Those mortal threads look lovely to wear, Jessica. You look so…."

Was her Mother envious of her lingerie?

The cheerleader's flushed face remained as her mouth sputtered open, and she responded as fast as the heat could drain out of her face,

"M-Master does photography as a hobby! We were just passing time by taking pictures of me! That's all, Mom!"

Thankfully, her Mother looked at all the camera equipment and technology on Simon's shelf curiously. The relief as the elder genie nodded at his camera instead of her Daughter's photo. The cheerleader continued to look on as her Mother's behavior nearly mimicked her again like a mirror. Maridallura's lips pursed and **** themselves into a scowl as her own cheeks tinted red,

"Y-Yes, well then, Jessica. As long as this mortal…."

Nope, Jessica quickly dropped her embarrassment as soon as the 'm' word was uttered again.

The genie growled at Maridallura with a sharp glare, causing her Mother to try again after a deep sigh,

"As long as…Simon Harris…is not using your powers to take advantage of you. I will encourage you to continue expressing yourself."

At the sound of a thud, Jessica watched as her Master slumped forward at his computer. His emotions reeked of exasperation,

'Her forcing out my name sounds worse than calling me a dumb mortal!'

The genie smiled sympathetically. Jessica's poor, adorable Master tried his best to take the **** of Maridallura's disdain. Unfortunately, it was apparent that the only way her Mother would ever like Simon was to prove himself. That would take time, but at least she managed to say his name in the last couple of hours after everything happened. Jessica decided she would take her victories where she could get them.

After his initial reaction subsided, however, her Master continued to work and finally found the file he was looking for on his computer. Jessica watched as her awkward boyfriend and childhood companion focused his thoughts again to find out what to say next.

"So, um, why bronze?"

Simon's voice caught both genies by surprise as he spun around and scratched his head,

"I mean, that city made of bronze and brass? The place where the Djinn and Masters are from you showed us. It's not exactly the best material to build with, so how does something like that exist?"

Jessica looked to her Mother, who seemed to notice the question being directed toward her once more,

"Well, Mom? Do you know?"

Maridallura gazed at her Daughter with some confusion and then nervously bit down on her lip as Jessica had so often done in front of others,

"It was the last remnant of what the Masters and elders call the Great War. It is imbued with magic and is unable to change form. It was said that the ancestors used their greatest techniques to create it. That the Masters, even with their immense power, could barely hope to replicate. To our kind, we view it as a great binding, an anchor for our magic. Those ancestral metals have been used by the Masters and genie alike since we've existed with one another. The stories of how our bindings were created and our essence imbued in them, each Djinn wishes for a worthy one."

The young genie and Master watched as the woman let her gaze drift and followed the metal object that had brought her back to their realm with hesitation.

"We genie know that mortals can wield metal and create things without our power. It's how I could have someone craft an elegant binding for you, Jessica. However, it's also an ability and sorcery that the Masters warn us about. Mortals are not respectful or the wisest regarding the power they can wield. We're passed on stories and tales of what dangers they can possess. The sisters give us many warnings about the traps of the mortal realm. I've been told many of them. Including one tale of a genie who was foolish enough to fall into a trap and be bound to an object by accident; she was locked inside for centuries until freed by another mortal. **** to grant their wishes for their freedom. Mortals are easy to trick and manipulate because our power is beyond them."

Jessica nodded as she leaned forward and then remembered how her Mother reacted when Simon revealed the broken shard of the seal around his neck,

"So, is that why you reacted the way you did when Simon showed you the shard?"

The young genie watched her Master's face grow curious as he pulled the object from beneath his shirt and again displayed it to the genie. Maridallura's eyes widened, and she openly cringed in front of her Daughter as she averted her gaze,

"Put that away! Quickly!"

Jessica shot a look toward Simon while he looked at her with an equal amount of surprise. Both teenagers agreed on their feelings, and the Solomon seal disappeared beneath her boyfriend's shirt again. The hissing from the genie made Jessica believe her Mother was part vampire reacting to a silver cross. Maridallura's face relaxed, and she remained tense around her shoulders as an anxious exhale departed from her lungs,

"You don't understand yet, Jessica. That object. It has been touched by a genie and one of the Masters alike. I see its aura and essence upon it. I sense something, feel something strange when I see it. It is especially dangerous to have an item created by the Masters; their items are…."

"But," Simon quickly corrected,

"This wasn't made by the Masters."

The announcement quickly made Jessica's Mother scoff in disbelief again and look at her Daughter with a sense of outrage,

"Jessica, explain!"

The teenage genie puffed at her Mother's command instead of asking the dork in front of her for the correct explanation. Jessica pouted and rolled her eyes as she flipped the hair away from her forehead once more,

"The vision…dream…thing - that Master had, the one who battled the Masters was a mortal. So the Mortal Master was the one who made it and used it apparently on one of the Masters before it broke and hurt them or something?"

As expected, her Mother's confusion compounded as her face paled, and she shook her head again. Jessica raised her eyebrow as Maridallura mumbled to herself,

"Th-That… that's impossible…the Masters are immortal beings with the power to bind our own…how could the Masters allow that to exist?"

"Well, I mean," Jessica sighed at her Mother's seemingly infinite well of anxiety,

"It didn't work, obviously. Otherwise, it wouldn't have blown apart for Master to have a souvenir around his neck."

The elder genie shook her head again in disbelief and clutched her Daughter's hand over her knee,

"No, Jessica. There's more you must understand. It's not only the sorcery that doesn't make any sense."

The blonde watched her Mother turn her body toward her and hold out her hands to display her magic and purple smoke to show an image of the world like a globe,

"The Masters, when they make us battle in the citadel, there is little risk for collateral damage because it is where our power is weakest. We simply fight in the great arenas and stages across it. However, that is only amongst themselves or when challenged there. The rules are different outside the arena."

Maridallura pulled her arms from the sleeves of the bathrobe,

"It is different when they find a genie bound to a mortal. The Masters will arrive to take the genie from the mortal realm in battle. The mortal fights with their Djinn in the arena via challenge or in the realm in which they exist. If it is the latter, as is their way, the Masters will often destroy the world or realm where their wielder is from once the battle is done."

Jessica watched the world suddenly fracture into pieces. The young genie then watched it reform again and covered in great storms that flooded it until there was nothing, fires that evaporated the oceans, volcanic ash that spread across the skies, pestilences, starvation, desertification, overrun by larger insects or animals until humans scattered. The blonde's face paled in horror as her Mother's displays and illusions disappeared into the same purple smoke.

"If that object is not of this realm, it puts you both in greater danger. For it has pierced the veil."

The elder genie's eyes widened as she suddenly seemed even more interested and energized,

"However, if that object truly is of this realm, I am now left with questions for you! I was taught that such things were possible with mortal sorcery, but the implications go far beyond what even I was taught. That would mean the Masters were defeated in this realm, or they would have attempted to destroy the mortals of this world but failed. If that were true, then that would mean more Djinn are in this realm, but I would have sensed them if that were so. Truthfully, I believe I could only spare this realm and you from destruction by remaining unbound and without a master, but if genies and Masters have truly existed here before, I…."

The sudden pondering and quizzical look her Mother had frozen in place. The cheerleader watched as Maridallura's eyes widened in realization, the feeling of discovery replaced by that of the same panicked paranoia that had cursed her throughout their reunion,

"…I-I am endangering us all by asking questions. So, I must cease this conversation at once. My Master would not care for such things unless it would become a challenge or a threat to him. I must ensure that I remain oblivious of this knowledge that you have. It is silly of me to feel such things are possible. Such things cannot be possible. It is stupid of me to feel such ridiculous views! I know nothing. I must know nothing. I am an ignorant, imbecilic djinn who does not know better. Foolish Maridallura, foolish!"

Her Mother was trying to be ignorant on purpose. Trying to protect her Daughter by keeping their own secrets away while sharing her own?

Jessica was confused for a brief moment until she heard her Master's mind acknowledging that very thing,

'She doesn't want to know what we know. Which means she wants to hide it from her Master. She can't trust herself not to betray you if he wishes for it. I wonder if we should be even talking about if we can't share things too much….'

Simon was considering keeping them safe while trying to keep her Mother from being exposed. There were so many ways that this could go wrong. Jessica had been so excited and emotionally driven to converse with her Mother that she wanted to ignore the subject altogether, but there was no avoiding it.

That meant asking the subject that was already making her skin crawl,

"Mom, it's okay. Just forget we even talked about it. I want to learn more about your Master, instead. I mean, what are we dealing with? What has he been doing to you? What are you put through that makes you act like this?"

Maridallura froze, eyes staring as she flinched through several more painful moments of silence. Her head shook quietly as the genie's voice trembled with tremendous waves of anxiety,

"Jessica, you…you don't need to know that…I…you shouldn't have to know Master…for your own good."

Her hand squeezed onto her Mother's tightly, and her green eyes glowed as the smoke of her illusions began to cast around the room,

"You don't need to tell us anything, Mom. Okay? Just close your eyes. Relax and imagine what your day is like back in his realm."

The fear in her Mother's face made Jessica briefly feel again that she was staring into a mirror. They had a difference in age of hundreds of years, but physically, her Mother was not even twice her age. She clenched her Daughter's hand tightly as Jessica watched the image of her Mother's world appear before her.

A long hallway, lit brightly by torches in the archways, with lamps and various trinkets sitting upon alters in alcoves sculpted into the walls that cast shadows with the unique colors twinkling and reflecting behind. Gold, bronze, jade, silver, and brass caught the young genie's eyes as she saw the unique oil lamps with which the genie was usually associated, but there was more.

Much more.

A silver platter, golden and jade necklaces, bracelets and statues. She recognized the unique gem placed in each one, the birthstone of the genie bound to the object. Jessica allowed her eyes to curiously gaze at her Master's reaction as he remained silent and hidden behind the illusion's walls.

Simon's eyebrow rose as he focused again on that specific detail he was obsessed with.

No steel. No metals that the awkward dork and her genie mother discussed. The ones even she had looked for in their trip to the hardware warehouse outside town had been few and far between. The large halls and building itself had been constructed as if a cross between an impeccable palace, cathedral, and hanging gardens.

Then there was a voice. A deep, echoing sound that banged against her ears in the darkness and dim light.

A chill ran down her spine as the cheerleader heard it speaking in a tongue that she couldn't understand but strangely that she recognized. Deep down, the language was embedded into her being. The hallway wall in front of her opened like a stone boulder, and her Mother's hand clenched ever more tightly to her own as she reacted to what her Daughter could now see and hear.

Jessica watched as a grand open throne room appeared, surrounded by moats of bright green water, golden and strange fruits blossoming against blood-red vines on the pale stone walls and columns that could barely contain the prominent figure that made her feel as if she was nothing more than a plastic doll.

The massive, muscular hands and arms were wrapped in black fabric and obsidian shackles. Again, the Disney film Aladdin entered her head as she saw the giant's skin was a mixture of bright blood red like Jafar's wish, but the thought quickly left her. The being's skin was also bronzed – tanned and smooth - like that of various ethnicities and cultures of humanity had they been placed into a blender.

The black flames withdrew into a hood and a cape that draped over his large, firm, and strong shoulders. Jessica quivered as she watched a dribble of moisture burst into flames against his thick core of a torso, left bare save for a massive golden necklace against his pectoral muscles with a blood-red ruby at its center.

Several half-naked Djinn remained underneath him, wrapped to his legs and painted gold-like ornaments, mouths wide open as if waiting for something to trickle down to them if fortunate enough.

Underneath the hood, though, were the eyes. Jessica saw them immediately look upon her as they snapped open to reveal their gaze. Her emerald eyes looked upon the fiery, shimmering, golden lights from their stare.

The power, hunger, and arrogance, a predator that dwarfed every part of her as its irises looked ready to shoot toward her like chains and shackles. The sadistic intent that flooded toward her from the feet up. It would humiliate her, dominate her, chastise her, own her.

An overwhelming sense of fear gripped the teenage genie. The blonde had felt something like this before, but not like this. Not so completely. It ripped off all layers of personality and experiences until it only left the blonde cheerleader frightened as the little white rabbit she was as a child. Their attention on her suddenly caused the genie to gasp and throw herself to the floor, escaping her Mother's grip.

Jessica could not control herself as she let out a loud shriek in terror as the immortal leaned forward. The cheerleader scrambled under her Master's bed as fast as possible to escape.

The illusion collapsed as she curled herself into a ball with her hands clenched to her skull and covering her ears.

Such power. Such fear. All of it pointed at Jessica. It smiled at her and threatened to pull her soul into the crushing gravity well of a black hole. To rip her apart and crush her, and then do it again. Jessica knew she was nothing to it. The way it made her feel crawled over her skin repeatedly and whipped itself against her psyche again and again.

With illusion quickly disappearing, her Mother and Master sought to calm their beloved blonde down as the cheerleader remained curled into a shaking ball.

Jessica's emerald eyes remained wide open as she felt herself going catatonic with fear and the sight of the eyes that pierced through her as they glowed like melted gold in their intensity. It would bully and humiliate her for the sheer enjoyment of her pain. Her body recognized them instantly, even if she had never encountered them. Even if she had heard Simon speak of them from his dreams, his crazed and panicked state the morning he awoke from the vision and her mother's warnings. Deep inside, she knew what they were, what they called her, how little personal value they had for her as nothing but a tool to be owned and wielded.

That was the Master. That was one of them.

She instantly remembered her primal fear during her father's parties as a child. The Djinn she was had been wired the moment she had been born to respond to what all Djinn knew. Her first instinct was to hide under the bed and clutch her face so she wouldn't be seen. The urge to hide was followed by the chill down her spine of knowing something that had the power to make her kneel, beg, and lose everything. That look in his eyes, the hidden grin the immortal being sadistically given toward her as if she were her Mother.

That was the being her Mother was enslaved to, kept locked away in a hallway with other genies bound to him like a vault. His face was still covered, but the sadistic aura and nature of what awaited her Mother every moment she was summoned.

And what was done to her.

"Jessica…."

The familiar feeling of her concerned Mother's hand upon her cheek and Simon's hand wrapping around her own finally snapped the young genie from the image that burned into her mind. Her back arched, and she gasped loudly again as the emerald-amethyst and hazel eyes of her loved ones caused her breathing to return. It wasn't real. She hugged Simon tightly and finally regained control of her breathing,

“I-I…fuck….”

Slowly, the blonde composed herself, sat back on the bed next to Maridallura, and took a series of deep breaths. Instinctively, her face went for the comforting breasts of the genie's chest as the cheerleader attempted to suppress the anxious feeling of hunger that pushed her. The feeling of her Mother's hand as it rubbed her back as she sighed,

"You shouldn't have done something so reckless as that, Jessica. You weren't raised among us. In any given circumstance, the first sight of the Masters is always overwhelming…even for a Djinn. It's something you are born with."

Jessica's emerald eyes watched as her Mother's face grew suspicious and guarded at the young man who seemed to remain composed throughout the affair. The blonde found herself hugged tighter into her Mother's chest as she glared at Simon with further suspicion,

"On the other hand, a mortal would have cowered and soaked themselves at such a sight, yet you do not boy," Maridallura observed aloud with an aura of tension.

Jessica felt her Mother's arms squeeze more tightly around her for protection to the point it hurt to breathe. Maridallura only released her Daughter at a slow pace by a realization that she soon announced,

"Therefore, what you have claimed is true. You must have laid eyes upon their kind before. You have seen the Masters."

Jessica watched her boyfriend absentmindedly blink from the remarks and the attention as he nodded, the unsettled feeling inside him shaking like a twirling plate on a stick. The young man she once saw as an awkward dork was now unsettled by the attention that her Mother once again directed toward him before he stared off into space,

"Yeah, I said that before, three of them, but not like that. They were more at a distance from me. Your Master, though. He looked…bigger…different….”

Simon's understatement could've been laughed off by his girlfriend if Jessica hadn't been so shaken by the experience. The reddish giant had to be at least over a story tall; the throne he sat upon was practically a series of buildings.

"The Masters can change forms as we genie can, but with greater ease and effect. In their realms, they can take any form they choose. Their original forms are lost to most of us."

"That doesn't sound extra scary at all," the cheerleader mumbled under her returning breath.

Simon nodded along with her but raised an eyebrow,

"Who was the genie on his shoulder he kept next to him?"

Jessica swung her head around and tried to keep herself from falling over at the sudden question, "Wait, what genie?"

She didn't even see another genie in that illusion. She was so focused on the giant fucking red guy that owned her Mother with the glowing golden eyes that she didn't even notice another person in the room. Jessica felt herself fall out of the conversation again as her head cartoonishly swung back and forth between her Master and Mother for answers. Maridallura sighing and looking away in resentful embarrassment,

"That is the Favored Sister. She is treated as the Mistress among his collection."

Jessica watched her Mother's child-like anxiety return to her face, her fingers clutched to her knees as she bowed her head. The teenage blonde took the opportunity to hold her Mother's hand and press against the emerald of her choker. Smoke revealed the small figure the size of a Barbie doll in the palm of her other hand, a djinn dressed similarly to her Mother in black cloth, but her Mother quickly dispelled the image, preventing her Daughter from seeing the Djinn's face,

"Mom?"

Maridallura stifled a moan, her skin becoming flushed as she took a moment to finish speaking to her child,

"That is the one who will discover my coming here if Master does not discover your actions as you hope, Jessica. She oversees all sisters in his collection to ensure they do not disobey. Regarding our service, she takes great pleasure in enforcing punishment. Especially my own."

The blonde cheerleader shook her head as the thought sounded almost contradictory. A genie sister in charge of the other genie sisters? Enjoying punishment? The question made Jessica shake her head,

"Hold up. Why would a genie actually go through with that? Is she one of those fallen genies you told me about, or…."

Once again, Maridallura shook her head as her eyes remained shaken while reliving her own experiences,

"No. No, the sister is not one of the Gul, Jessica. However, she feels loyalty to Master that Not all genie sisterhoods are equal. We all have our shared connection, but it is the Masters that control the realms. The Masters are the ones who bind us. The Favored Sister did not exist with my Mistress but does with my Master. She is quite strict in enforcement, and my actions have made me stand out to her since I arrived as a prize and oathbreaker."

The mother genie sat silently and stared off with her face frozen in place,

"Master takes delight in watching her humiliate us for entertainment. She is far older than I am, reminding me of my place when our eyes meet. I have always been beneath her and treated as such. That is my place. Unfortunately, I must admit, shamefully, that she knows my one weakness. And exploits it to no end to satisfy Master's amusements."

Her Mother's one weakness. Before Jessica could even ask hesitantly, her Master answered with an unsettled tone,

"So she knows about Jess?"

Maridallura bowed her head in shame and nodded,

"Yes…."

The cheerleader froze as the admission of her existence being known in other worlds again underscored her seemingly small existence. The squeak was suppressed into a visible hiccup, but Jessica watched the sadness form on her Mother's face,

"So, why didn't they wish me to join you? If she loves to **** you with me, why keep me here? Why not bring me back to your realm?"

Upon seeing the worried expression of the blonde, the elder genie remained somber but attempted a smile,

"You were an infant among the infinite multitudes of existence. There was no need. You're a Djinn Sister, Jessica. Alone. Sooner or later, you would find yourself adrift in the great magical essence of eternity as we all do. Even though she knows you exist, the Favored Sister of Master follows our ways. As I told you before, there are no titles or relationships among the Djinn other than that of Sister. Just as she seeks to rid the blasphemy of my desire to be your Mother, it is also not her place to bring you to the Master. Only when your magic has overwhelmed the veil is attention drawn to yourself. It is the Masters that seek out our essence, not our sisters. We must do what we can to shield and veil ourselves. They mock my actions against the doctrines I've taken to keep you safe. For if I had not allowed myself to become attached to you as anything other than a Sister, I would not have stayed and allowed myself to be claimed again so easily. I left you to be raised by mortals and not the sisterhood. They know among our kind that it is easy to seek my humiliation by pointing out my heresy. To the sisters, you are simply another one of us, Jessica. Not my Daughter, and not your Mother."

Her Mother folded her hands over her heart as she smiled. Jessica stared off as her mouth became slightly agape at what had been said to her,

"In time, you will shed your mortal attachments and identity like all others, Jessica. They were right about that. You are an immortal, with great power and no need for the constraints of your mortal life. You'll outgrow all the unnecessary ideas and feelings that mortals must carry or have attempted to place on you. The Elder sister seeks only to remind me of what I am. I fought against those feelings until seeing you again because I knew you and I had a chance."

The teenage genie slumped forward and frowned. Jessica's hands clenched into fists as she felt the shock give way,

"So you're saying that I'll just give up everything? You expected me to give up my friends, family, and life here? Because I'm immortal and a genie, I'd just leave it all behind like you…Throw it all away like it's nothing?"

It was a painful thought and an even more unfortunate situation as the elder Djinn had her face filled with doubt once more. Simon continued to watch both his girlfriend and her Mother as Maridallura's eyes were the picture of pained regret,

"You have to understand, Jessica. I had never encountered the idea of the end of one's existence before until I set foot here. Even though I was told the differences between us and the mortals, it had never occurred to me that such a thing was possible. I had never witnessed or been in the presence of mortal burdens that come with loss, attachments, and ****. I have never seen such emotions, such pain. I did not believe **** or the fear of someone or something precious dying was possible. Your father taught me about it and explained it to me. I was so fearful at the idea Theodore could be lost. It was silly since I could wish him alive once more, yet he saw the permanence of it!"

Maridallura quickly grabbed her Daughter's hand tightly as she remained ever more anxious and overcome with emotion,

"You must understand, Jessica, not even the Masters know ****! The permanence of mortal loss is a strong emotion, an experience I never understood. With your power and heritage, I believed you would be able to overcome such things. That you would be immune to the idea of a limited existence or at least seek to no longer live with them among us once you had experienced the full spectrum of the mortal realm. To protect yourself from the trappings and curses of a mortal existence. You are a Djinn like me. You have no need to restrain yourself with the worries of such suffering. We are blessed to be free of such needless fears. I've felt it in me the moment you were born. You were destined for something great."

The elder Djinn shook her head to snap herself from such thoughts or fears. She looked to her Daughter, who looked not to her Mother but to her mortal Master with her own anxieties. Jessica looked at Simon for the longest time as she tried to register what was being said. The younger blonde's heart raced at the idea.

'I won't lose you. Not again….'

Simon was Master. Simon could do anything, Jessica's mind reminded her as he attempted to smile reassuringly, but the genie Maridallura had other ideas as she stood up from the bed,

"In any case, if I am to train you, you will have to overcome your own fears and own weakness, Jessica. You must learn to shed your mortal sensibilities because they will not serve you well in a fight. The Favored Sister will use me against you as she would use you against me; that is how Master will desire it. No matter how hard she tries to break my connection to you, my sister knows the strongest emotions I have are for you. Whatever arouses our most powerful emotions to power our magic is for our owners to feed off of. For they are the Masters, we are the slaves. They are the ones who decide what is and what is not acceptable. It is not our place to argue."

The idea of shedding 'sensibilities' made the cheerleader's throat tighten. As she attempted to smile through her nervousness, her Mother's gaze sharpened, and turned to the young man in front of her,

"As for you. You are mortal. That puts you immediately at a great disadvantage among us. If you are as clever as my Daughter claims, I will need to see it put to the test myself. While Jessica is of our kind, you know by now that you are nothing to them. The Masters will see your humanity – mortality - as the weakness it is, along with the self-imposed limitations your kind has on itself. The Djinn also know this, and I have lived among mortals to know enough that it is true."

Jessica watched as Simon continued to stare and wait for her Mother to finish, as Maridallura's eyes cast away, and her face seemed to contort to the words that exited her mouth with a frustrated sigh,

"However, as you and Jessica have said…there might be some, thought, behind your foolishness. If you had simply wished for me to come here, then the power of my Master would herald me as his messenger to announce his arrival. You have not done so. And while you may perceive obstacles outside your mortal vision, you are still the same as the rest. If you are truly different as my Daughter claims, we shall put that to the test."

To the test? Jessica's brain clicked as she suddenly stood between her Mother and Master once more and held out her arms hurriedly as she watched her mother motion forward,

"Wait, wait, Mom, hold on! I don't want you to hurt him or…."

Once again, with her Daughter between them, the cheerleader watched her mother scowl and huff air from her nostrils. What was Jessica supposed to do, though? Her Mother was on an emotional rollercoaster and was back to focusing herself on doing everything in an instant,

"Time is of the essence, Jessica! You must begin immediately if I'm to teach you as you wish. There is no room for you to avoid what you have asked of me!"

"M-Mom, hold on! W-We can't start now. I…."

Just like her, the genie's Mother did not give an inch,

"There are no guarantees that I'll get another chance, Jessica! You both desired this by using your power to bring me here, did you not?"

Maridallura's impatience and sense of urgency quickly silenced her Daughter, but not the young man who had simply sat and listened to all of it,

"What do you expect to happen to you upon your return to your Master's realm?"

Simon's voice was curious enough, but Jessica knew her Mother would misperceive the question. To further her Master's thoughts, she spoke before her Mother had a chance to again snipe at her boyfriend,

"Mom, you were trying to convince yourself how you would react to returning to your Master. That's all Master is pointing out to you. He's asking if you knew what to expect if you were caught or did leave - what are you expecting to happen to make yourself get caught?"

The elder genie's eyes widened as her mouth went agape, trying to answer her Daughter's question. Once again, the fiery, passionate side of the cheerleader's Mother returned to its unsure and slightly childish state of anxiety, her voice softening,

“I…I…I believe they would notice my disappearance; my magic is bound to the lamp, but it remains in its place. I…I am supposed to be in there; if I were to leave my lamp, they would notice me…."

"But, you came here through your lamp, Mom. Hard to notice you leaving it…."

"No-No, I understand. However, I…."

The genie was clearly struggling with the concept of being unable to answer. Jessica's emerald eyes glanced at her Master. Simon only watched and listened, paying attention to the details as he saw them. Her Mother's lip was bitten off to the side, and Maridallura avoided eye contact unless, at a glance, her arms were more present in front of herself as if the block or guard from her Daughter's questions.

Once again, her Daughter looked on as the woman's eyes remained off somewhere else - even as powerful and otherworldly as her Mother was - this was as new for a genie as it was for a mortal. Maridallura was also reliving something that was increasing her arousal as her cheeks flushed.

A punishment by her sister and Master, perhaps? The signs were that Jessica's Mother was conflicted by what she knew would happen based on experience and what she didn't know was possible. Jessica managed to hear Simon's internal thoughts to himself.

Had no one ever truly done this before? He couldn't have been the first, could he? Simon's mind was clearly up to something.

"I cannot take the chances that you have, Jessica," Maridallura finally answered as she tried to **** some feeling of control ironically back into her body through her swirling emotions,

"I am not allowed such things as you are. That was what leaving you here was meant to provide you."

Simon's eyes then watched as the next opportunity for the elder blonde came with her slender finger pointing at him, seated in his chair as she protested again. The cheerleader watched the scene with them both unfold,

"Your 'Master' cannot remain so foolish to the power outside of his control! This cannot wait! You do not have long I will be…"

But she had enough of her constant reminders.

"God, Mom! Stop it with that already!" Jessica finally snapped back as she finally put her foot down once again.

The blonde cheerleader then pointed back at her Mother as Simon watched the Jessica Edwards he knew, the defiant and spirited blonde, retake charge,

"The only reason they're going to catch us at this point is you're panicking too much to hide it!"

Maridallura's eyes widened as she gasped quietly at her Daughter's accusation,

"J-Jessica…."

"I mean, look at how you're even acting! You're picturing being punished and caught more than you are excited about hiding something from them! It's making you fucking horny! Master doesn't need to point that out for me to see that. How are we to know that you can go back and keep up an act?"

The sadness soon overwhelmed the anger as Jessica sighed. Her face became disappointed, and her eyes downcast as she frowned,

"It's so hard when I want to trust you so much…."

Simon motioned to get up from the chair but was left frozen as he watched the sadness and disappointment of his beloved blonde cause a reaction from Maridallura that he hadn't seen before. The elder genie suddenly seemed utterly despondent; her lips trembled, and she shrunk further into herself childishly. Jessica didn't bother to look up as he had. As Simon watched, the genie became incredibly emotional to the point where the cheerleader only noticed as her Mother collapsed onto her knees on the floor of her boyfriend's bedroom.

An internal struggle soon overcame her, as if something inside the genie was fighting her. Something foreign to her or so powerful in its compulsion that Maridallura could not resist it.

This was yet another time that Simon noticed that Jessica's responses caused her Mother's mood to change. The veil of a defiant and powerful magical being gives way to the childish and, eventually, the internal battle. It was more than a reaction; the genie seemed wounded by her Daughter's disapproval.

"Jessica…."

Trust. Something that wasn't expected but that the elder genie looked genuinely wanting of.

“This…That…That does not matter….”

Who was Maridallura trying to convince at this point? Simon asked internally.

It wasn't Jessica or him. Like her Daughter reciting a motto her boyfriend had given her to push through, the elder blonde seemed to say it to convince herself. In the process, however, Simon watched Jessica's face contort at the implication that her Mother did not need her trust. It was possibly another thing that genies did not need to care for or lacked utterly.

In truth, it was evident that the elder genie would've wished for it herself.

Maridallura wanted to keep Jess hidden, keep her safe, at least until her Daughter was able to move beyond the illusion of her own humanity. She went to great lengths to ensure that. To the point, she neglected the very idea of what humans did or acted. The genie didn't think as 'mortals' did, and neither did their Masters.

But still, it was all for Jessica.

As Simon gazed up at his childhood love and girlfriend, the cheerleader was already trying to reason with her Mother again. Both blondes babbled back and forth with one another again over him. The Mother's paranoia and the Daughter's protectiveness.

For all his own flaws and traits, he was also the only human in the room.

"God, Mom, how can you be so fucking dense!"

"I made a vow to keep you safe until the time came for you to know, Jessica! You do not have time for this!"

Simon's ears perked up as both continued to go back and forth. Jessica was now at the point where she was pulling at her long golden blonde hair and stomping her feet. Her Mother's eyes were still shaken, emotionally shaken, and on the brink of yet another breakdown as the rope holding the robe around her fell off.

What was that last part about making a vow?

"Mom, please!"

The conflicted genie continued to fight inside her own head as to what to do,

"No! No, I can't! I….”

Her love for Jessica was too hard for her to reject. Maridallura had no idea how to best protect her Daughter without something to guide her. He had to know,

"STOP!"

Simon's sudden and loud bark caused both genies to cease bickering and stumble around to face him. The right side of the dark blue robe fell off the elder genie's body and then to her feet. Jessica's Mother now once again standing naked with her large breasts and statuesque form to allow Simon's wandering eyes to compare the heavenly forms of both blondes.

His face grew warm, but he was too focused on the topic to care at that moment. Jessica's emerald orbs were wide and red from being close to crying as she looked at her Master as anxiously as ever.

"What did you mean by 'Vow'? Do genies make vows that have some sort of power?"

The naked genie registered the question before she frowned at his response. Her breasts bounced as she glided with each uneasy pace across the floor, trying to respond. Her defiant energy returned when again questioned by a human instead of her Daughter,

"What would a mortal understand of such-…."

"Answer the question."

Maridallura was thrown off by Simon's sudden impatience, seemingly caught off guard by his fixation and calculated stare toward her bare ass instead of her eyes. Jessica, however, looked right at her Mother at that moment, knowing her childhood friend's eyes were not gazing at her Mother but in thought. His mind raced once more, obsessively. The naked blonde looked at her Daughter and scoffed, realizing she needed to answer,

"We…yes! Of course, genies make vows! Not to you mortals! Our vows are as powerful as our bindings; bound to our word, bound to our…."

By that point, Simon didn't even let her finish as he stood up from his chair and looked at the woman in the eye, who became startled by the sudden change,

"Then, you're going to make a new one…."

The teenage Master then turned to his beloved and watched Jessica's eyes fog over at the sight of his more controlling nature finally reemerging,

"And Jess is going to make sure you keep it."