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

[gardeningaia]

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. ]

Comments

[gardeningaia]

...Not all wishes are gentle.

[drinkandforget]

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?

[gardeningaia]

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. ]

[drinkandforget]

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

Then your freedom never comes.

[gardeningaia]

[ 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.

[drinkandforget]

[It probably sounds like taunting again, but suddenly she's actually curious.]

If genies fulfill wishes, who fulfills theirs?

[gardeningaia]

...The people who can give up one of their greatest desires.

[drinkandforget]

[Another person might pick up the hint. Lethe sees it as simply a riddle, and one she doesn't puzzle over to its conclusion. Still, curiosity carries her forward. The genie may be constrained, but she has immense power. So what's left?]

What would your wish be if you had one?

[gardeningaia]

Hmmm...that'll be a secret.

[drinkandforget]

After listening to everyone else's wish, what would you still want to use a wish for yourself? [If Lethe were the wishing sort, which she mostly isn't, it might have been cured by the dreams she had of her wishes fulfilled - and the consequences.]