onepassingnight | ❀ diamond in the rough, a flower blossoming in the slums

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❀ diamond in the rough, a flower blossoming in the slums

Perhaps getting thrown down here was part of the plan. The great quest. The attempt to woo sweet Agrabah princess, or just fetch what that weird rug merchant asked you to get.

More likely this particular stop wasn't on the itinerary. Boy is that Saucer of Wonders picky! The moment you--or a faithful but not always reliable animal companion--got distracted by something shiny, it was down the hatch to a natural desert prison, surrounded on all sides by quicksand. There's evidence that people have been here...and evidence they died here. You're not about to find anyone alive and kicking in the rundown shacks anytime soon.

Look long enough, though, and you'll find a dusty watering can lying on its side. The weathered metal has certainly seen better days, but maybe it could be cleaned up with a little polish?

Or maybe you're more interested in the "water" part of "watering can". This is a desert, after all.

Pick it up?

[ No? But thou must! Not much is going to happen until that can's picked up, and Aerith might get a bit impatient if your character ignores her. Oh yes, indeed, she's in there as the Genie.

In a little spin on the theme, I'm using the Disney take rather than the classic version itself. Also, if you want to find the watering can in a completely different place to better fit your own character's quest, that's fine! (And I do mean completely different, never underestimate the power of cosmic ...powers.) The Gold Saucer/Corel Prison just happened to suit the Cave of Wonders sequence nicely. ]

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[ She was afraid of that. She starts settling down more now, the flashy palm frond magic fading away. ] The reason I can't make anyone fall in love is because I can't control their hearts. I can jumble up their thoughts, but if they're really set on something it's not for me to change. After all...if it wasn't for people's wishes, there be no point to genies. In a way, we're both created and bound by the existence of an unfulfilled "wish". It's important to us. [ Even if they joke about the silliness of the particulars, the concept is there. ]

So, I could stop the war right now--any fighting happening anywhere! Make them put down their weapons and break up the party. But... from the sound of it, it'd only be a temporary ceasefire. No, we want a quality solution! And that means I need to understand the situation better. I'd stop a war over land by either giving both kingdoms more land so they don't have to fight--though there was that time I parked a city in timeout over the ocean. [ Timeout's not really sounding like an option here, though--cosmic powers can't split a cosmos. That takes a step up and there might be a licensing exam involved. ] You get what I'm saying? What are people fighting over that they'd fight for hundreds of thousands of years? [ Sheesh, that might even be older than her. ] Any head honchos I need to focus on?

[She's not going to try to sort out those muttered remarks that sound pretty bureaucratic for something as fanciful as granting a wish. She knows power has its own rules and ways.

She is also, despite her willingness to be brutal, despite her willingness to glory in what she does so that she doesn't have to face it too directly, naive. There is something she still believes that she shouldn't.]

The ginzuishou. If that thing were gone, the conflicts and wars would stop.

[ She snaps her fingers, grinning that they've found a solution. A crazily long war like that really does need to end! ] Done!

[ And if she breaks anything by doing this, it wasn't her cosmos. ]

[So many universes suddenly have very good reason to be extremely thankful this is only a dream. As for Lethe, she is skeptical.]

That's it? After so much trouble and strife, it's ended that easily?

Phenomenal cosmic powers are nothing to sneeze at. Just watch. [ She snaps her fingers again and somewhere on earth Usagi Tsukino is probably having a conniption because the ginzuishou is no longer there.

It's here! ]

Hmm...it's really pretty. And there's definitely something powerful about it... huh. You sure you want it gone? Maybe there's a way to hide it.

If it was hidden, there would still be wars over it. This world is like that. One day or another, whoever holds it, it would unleash everything all over again.

...All right. You're the boss! Master. [ So many universes are glad this is a dream when Aerith takes a pick, hammer, and chainsaw in succession to the jewel, before finally making an "oh!" of remembrance and simply--

Magicking it into a burst of crystalline dust in her hands. ]

Wish number one.

[Wish one. Of three.]

I wish for happiness - along with Mnemosyne. My happiness and hers.

Aww, how sweet. Nothing says "I care" like the gift of magic! [ The flippancy is not insincerity. It's really just how Aerith is. ] What would make you two happy?

Lethe considers her answer before giving it. All they've ever wanted is so simple, really; and so difficult.

"To be able to live in peace together."

Private island in the Bahamas work? Seems like you're used to heat here.

[There's a very new look on Lethe's face as the possibility opens up in front of her in her mind.]

A new place for us both, away from the war and destruction.

(ooc: and your original post keeps making me think of this icon I made a few years back of the classic But Thou Must. XD)

But you wished to end the war! [ though she could be thinking of it taking a while to die down...which it might, when Aerith thinks about it. Even the internet can only spread info so quickly. ] Hmm... I could find a really remote place to be sure... but then it'd be just the two of you, and it might get lonely. One companion is better than none, but--

[ She looks so uncertain about that, because if there's something she hates as much as not being free, it's that she's trapped in solitude. ]

Maybe I could just...make a bunch of people up.

The island is fine. We don't need anyone but each other.

[It's been that way for them for a very long time. Who else can they rely on? The ones among the animamates who'd never lift a finger to help them? The people of an already-dead world?]

We've only ever needed each other. It won't be lonely for us.

All right, then. Wish number 2, coming right up!

[ Hopefully Mnemosyne doesn't mind being popped onto an island. Because it's happening.

But if she really minds she can just make her own wishes, right? And hey, look at the palm trees! The clear ocean! That endless blue sky! ]

[ooc: and obviously Mnemosyne here is just..a figment of Lethe's imagination. Unless Mnemosyne really does want to pop in. XD ]

[For a second, she's visibly surprised by the sudden movement; she turns sharply to look for Mnemosyne and for this mysterious spirit with these powers.]

You can do this... Even wishes like this.

(ooc: nudged mnem-mun, we'll see. XD)

I can do nearly a-ny-thing. --Which is why you should take some time with your third wish! If you're already happy with these two, it might take you a while to figure what else you really, really want. Don't want to just use it on any little whim!

[ It might seem like a change of pace. Well, it kind of is, but with Lethe having been so decisive about her first two wishes, Aerith's realizing she could be popping into that lamp as fast as she popped out. ]

What else do I want?

I've only thought about those things for all these years. I've been getting ready for war that crystal will cause, and trying to protect my sister.

If those are done, what else is there to seek out?

Well...there's a lot of things. But it all depends on the seeker. Like I said, maybe a little time's what you need.

[Maybe. If all those worries were gone...

She might be able to change. She might be able to be kinder.]

Even with all these wishes, though, destruction will still exist and occur.

...Not all wishes are gentle.

Nothing in this galaxy is. [Come to think of it... Lethe turns her head towards the genie, though she looks slightly downward.]

It isn't gentle for you, either. You're here until your purpose is fulfilled. Isn't that so?

What are you talking about? "Fulfilled"? There's wishes here, there and everywhere! A genie's job is never done.

[ Of course, that's sidestepping the real issue. ]

[Lethe names the real issue instead. There are many ways to be tied to something.]

Then your freedom never comes.

[ Aerith still smiles, but it's like setting a dimmer on a bulb. ]

I get a little freedom. When I have a master-- [ Though that's going from being a prisoner to a servant, and Aerith bites it off once she realizes what she's saying. She rocks gently on her feet before looking at Lethe determinedly. ]

Even genies' wishes can be fulfilled. And I've got all the time in the world for mine to come true.

❀ diamond in the rough, a flower blossoming in the slums

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giggle every tag. i wish lethe could react properly to the perfect hilarity that is genie aerith

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proceeding!

kk; she said to go ahead, she needs to catch up on old stuff. alas. XD

Re: kk; she said to go ahead, she needs to catch up on old stuff. alas. XD

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