“Hello Dan,” a voice said, and dan opened his eyes to find himself in the middle of a gazebo of some sort, the walls were a stark white and exquisite tapestries covered the three walls, to his left there was an endless field of the greenest grass he had ever seen, there was not even a weed to be found.

And in between him and the hills of green was a shallow pool of water. In that water casually dipping her toes was a woman, one whose skin was an unearthly golden brown too perfect to be anything conceived on earth.

“How are you Dan?” she asked, arching her shoulders ever so slightly and looking back over them at Dan. Her eyes were gold, with not one but four pupils in each eye. They were disconcerting and unbelievably pretty at the same time.

“Uh, fine I guess,” He said looking down he found himself in a golden and red robe and looking down the neck of the robe he found he no longer had any wounds. “So, am I dead?” he asked her.

“I don’t know… are you?” she asked, a small smile played on her lips and it was at this moment he realised she reminded him of Amani. “And if you were would you have any regrets?”

“That depends.”

“On?”

“Is Amani safe?” he asked, she paused, her smile freezing on her lips for a split second, before she broke out into a beautiful laugh that rolled off her tongue and sounded like music to his ears.

“There is an question I did not expect, for all you know you are dead or dieing but you ask about another.” she laughed. “Have you no regrets?” she asked, standing up and walking over to him slowly with sauntering steps.

“If she is safe then no I have no regrets.” he said.

Her eyes flashed and Dan had this creeping feeling like he was a bug under the microscope. “I see,” she said, nodding and talking to herself more than talking to him. She stopped walking right in front of Dan and considered him. “You know this is why I love mortals,” she gestured to the tapestries on the walls. “You are all so unpredictable, the way you think the way you do things, they are so fundamentally different that even after a millennium of observation I have yet to fully grasp you humanity.”

She grabbed him by hand and led him over to her pool, he felt as though he was powerless to resist she positioned him with his back to the pool and faced him to look at her.

“I think i have mortals understood and then something like this happens and I have to re evaluate the entirety of humanity.” she sighed.

“Perhaps that is your problem.” he said looking at her.

”What?”

“You are trying to evaluate us as a whole, and are forgetting fundamentally each and every one of us is different, to understand a whole you must understand its parts, so to understand humanity fully you must understand every human.” he looked at her, she had paused in her movements to consider what he had said.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

“To understand a whole you must understand its parts...” she repeated to herself with a whisper. She looked at Dan and smiled “Good bye Dan!” she said with a bright smile, before pushing dan, who despite the flailing of his arms fell back into the pool.

She watched as Dan hit the water and simply vanished into thin air. “Honestly, what kind of skill does it take to make me reconsider something I have decided on not once but twice?” a smile broke out on her face and she dipped a toe into the water and revealed a scene of a sleeping Dan, with Amani lying to his right staring at his sleeping face, and a certain Lamia whose tail was currently wrapped around his legs on his left. “Yes, I made a good choice, a very good choice.” she smiled even wider. “Take care of them for me Dan, they are like daughters to me...”

Dan felt strange, it was almost uncomfortably warm and he felt like he couldn't move. Slowly he opened his eyes, it took more effort than it should to open his eyes. And much to his surprise he was looking up at the ceiling of the apartment.

“You fool,” a voice said softly beside him. He knew the voice, but there was a sharpness to it that he had never heard. Turning slowly he looked at Amani, she lay there beside him on the futon. “You fool!” She growled. The look she gave Dan was one of a wolf, ready to devour anyone who got to close.

She lunged forward, grabbing him by the shoulders, nails digging into his skin. “Do I look like a helpless maiden to you!?” She yelled, her voice bouncing off the apartment walls, stinging Dan’s ears. Blood ran down his back from where her nails bit into the flesh. When he didn’t answer she punched him in the shoulder, right where he had been wounded.

The pain was excruciating, so bad that Dan had trouble staying conscious. He doubled over, clutching his shoulder, after a moment he leaned back up to look at Amani. “What the Hell—” the next blow was to his gut, he once again doubled over, retching. Amani leaned in close to his ear.

“I am not some weak maiden that you must throw your life away to protect. I am a djinn.” He could feel her hot breath on his ear, he could feel the anger coming off of her. But it was not the only emotion, there was relief, he did not know how but he could tell this, but he could even without looking at her. “Next time you feel the need to take on opponents or my sake even when I tell you you can't handle it, don’t.”

He looked her over and sighed in relief. “I am glad you are not harmed.”

“Even in your current state you think of others first. Hmm, it would seem as though I am a better judge of character than I thought.” She leaned back. She sighed lightly, but Dan could still sense that she was angry, and worried.

Dan looked at her deeply. He covered her hands with his own. “You risked your life for me, don't think I forgot what you said about casting too much magic, I will never forget that, and I will do my best to take care of—” he started. Amani’s fist swung out of the darkness, hitting the shoulder wound once again. Dan could feel the blood soaking the cloth bandage, warm and sticky.

“You listen to me, you belong to me now, you are mine. Your life is mine and you will do as I say from now on got it?” Dan didn’t answer. Amani swung out once again and Dan caught it in his fist. Tears streamed down Amani’s face, she really was beautiful. Dan pulled her close and hugged her, holding her as tightly as his body could muster as she cried her tears.

“You’re a fool,” she whispered, her head buried in his chest.

“You know my response to that.”

“So I do…”

A small shuffling noise to his left made him look over, and much to his surprise he found he was looking down at none other than Abyzou, who had a deep blush currently and was averting her eyes. She had also wrapped her snake section around the lower half of his body, which would explain why he couldn't feel his legs.

“Hey Amani?” he asked the currently sobbing genie on his chest.

“Yes?” she asked, sniffing but never moving her head from his chest.

“Why exactly is she here?” he asked.

“About that...” she paused, with a slightly worried tone in her voice. “She is your second wife...”

“Please take good care of me!” Abyzou said with a shy sort of smile.

“MY WHAT!?!?!?!?!?!”