G.I. Genie Ch. 08

I bowed to the females as I felt that I might be before royalty. All the females gasped (underwater how, I don't know).

They all looked at Catherine, he is well-mannered, as you said. For a surface dweller, he is a fresh pleasure to us. Now then, how can the daughters of the sea help you?

Queen Nemma, I am here to ask for a water guard for my master, came Catherine's thoughts.

Jinn Catherine, is he the one? The one so many have waited so long to see? SO! Came Nemma's thoughts, he is the one! Very well, here she pulled a necklace from a small chest before her. This guardian will protect you til it's passing. It will do this gladly for who you are and me.

I was shocked but still felt that I was missing out on something. Though I do not like to think that I am the cause of a spirit passing, I will wear it with pride.

All the females gasped when I again bowed to the queen. She then stood and embraced me, bringing more gasps. That statement tells me that you will succeed. She then whispered in my ear, take care of her as she will you.

I looked at the Queen with a confused look on my face as she kissed my cheek. Catherine and I were suddenly standing outside the cavern. I shook my head, what had just happened?

Catherine snapped her fingers, and we appeared inside my hut again. OK, I thought, this day was starting to grow stranger and stranger.

I hadn't thought that I was tired, but almost immediately fell to my rack. Damn I thought, as the darkne3ss moved in, I didn't know I was this tired.

My last thought was, I hoped that Catherine was safer and was feeling better now. Little did I know that, that one thought would have the results it did.

Back in my old home, a sandy blond-haired woman suddenly sat up a glow appearing around her. For a moment she held her head, then the confusion that had been in her mind cleared.

She looked around the room she was in, her eyes falling on a picture on her dresser. Suddenly her eyes were wide, then tears started to fall.

She grabbed the phone that was next to the bed as she dialed a long-ago remembered number.

"Hello?" Came a voice that was very familiar at the other end.

"Is, is this Victoria Rayton?" She asked with a shaky voice.

There was a hesitation on the other end, "who in the hell is this? This prank isn't funny, whoever you are!"

"Please, this isn't a prank. I am James Richards' daughter, I," she tried to continue.

The older woman started to yell about bitches and assholes. "I am not sure of your game, little miss, but I am not playing."

"Please, I am alone. I can't find John, I don't know where he is," the sandy blond woman said as she started to cry. "Please help me," she almost whispered.

There was a gasp from the other end of the line, "If you are who I think you, you were reported dead. The wreck was supposed to have killed all three of you. John went into the military."

"Please, Miss Victoria, please help me," the woman said.

"Stay there, I'll be there in an hour. Also, if this is a prank, I will move heaven and earth to put you in jail," the older woman said.

The young woman nodded, "I will be here, I have no one and really nowhere to go."

The older woman hung up, shaking her head. This had better not be a prank, especially after the way that John had disappeared. She went to her garage and climbed into her car.

Actually, it only took a half hour to get there, so she sat there for a half hour watching. All that she saw was the little truck that sat out front.

Finally, she plucked up the courage and left her car. She was shaking as she approached the door, not expecting anything, she knocked.

To her horror and delight, her brother's daughter opened the door. It was when the young woman looked at her with a look of recognition, that Victoria almost fainted.

"Miss Victoria?" The young woman asked as the older woman almost fainted.

I jerked awake as I felt a disturbing feeling. Why the hell do I feel so anxious? Catherine appeared almost immediately, feeling that John was worried and anxious.

"Master? Are you alright? I felt that something was wrong," Catherine said.

"I'm not sure, it's an uneasy feeling I am getting. I had it once before, though I don't know why," I said.

Catherine was immediately running her hands over me, then she was feeling all of me to confirm.

"I feel something master, but I can't seem to define what it is. If I didn't know better, I'd say that there is a magical protection on you. If this is true, master? I can't tell what or who has done this.

This, of course, had me thinking. I seemed to remember something my father had told me decades ago. The harder I thought about it, the more it seemed to evade me.

I had just dressed when I heard a huge explosion outside. As I thought it was the same Jinn I had hurt a few times.

"Human!" He yelled when he saw me. "You will not deny me that which is mine!"

"Ha," I laughed at him. "As you can see, you don't have the power to get to either of us. You should go away before you really get hurt."

"What!? You hurt me, that will be the," he was starting to say, when a shadowy figure shot out of the necklace the sea woman had given me. I was barely able to follow it as it hit Elephant Jibby as I was starting to call him square in the chest.

For a moment I thought that nothing was going to happen, then Jibby gasped and fell out of the sky. He lay on the ground gasping even more than vanished.

I turned when I heard a gasp behind me, seeing Catherine with a hand over her mouth.

"Master! You hurt him very badly, I can feel him trying to get rid of the pain to no avail," a now smiling Catherine was saying.

I sighed as I nodded to her. "I may have hurt him, but I feel that he is far from done with us. He obviously has grand designs for you. I will do all I can to keep this from happening. For now, we need to gather all that we can to aid us."

Catherine nodded her head, thinking a moment, then snapped her fingers.

The next place we appeared was in the middle of a very hot desert. Catherine looked around a moment, then tapped the sand. At this point, with all that had happened, anything that happened, wouldn't really surprise me.

Well, I thought, as I watched what appeared to be a huge door open from the sand. OK, I thought this was new, at least to me.

"So," I started, then seemed to be sucked into the opening that was before us. Again, as I moved through the sand, I found that I could breathe with no problem. What seemed like an hour later we appeared before what seemed to be living statues.

"Who dares to disturb the brothers of the sand?" A nasty-looking, I guess, male said.

I was about to answer when Catherine spoke up. "Brothers, this is my master who is fighting Elvantor Hajib." At the mention of his name there were a great many gasps that resounded through the sand.

I felt what seemed like pure rock that reached out to squeeze me, then let go as quickly.

I felt several beings kneel before me. "Master of Catherine, we are honored that you ask for our help." I felt the one closest to me reach out, then hand me a huge shield. At first, I thought I wouldn't be able to lift it.

To my absolute surprise, it was hardly any weight to me. "Master of Catherine, this shield will protect you against almost anything. Use it and think of the brothers of the sand."

I then bowed to them as I reached out a hand to shake its hand. As its hand closed around mine, I noticed that it was shining with a bright light from within it.

There were more gasps as the same light started to shine from the others there. Less than five minutes later I was staring at ten males that appeared to be almost human.

All ten of them looked shocked as they appraised every bit of their skin that they could see.

"Brothers! It is him! The curse is broken, we are again as we once were," the leader said. "If you ever have need of us, just call, we will be there immediately."

With that, they vanished, and we were standing at the opening that was now closing.

"Well," Catherine started, then giggled. "That went far better than I thought it would."

I could only shake my head as Catherine quickly kissed my cheek, then snapped her fingers. This time we appeared so high up, that the sky was a lot more dark than blue.

I shook my head as I was about to panic, then remembered. Catherine said that she'd not allow anything to harm me, so I quickly calmed down. Catherine reached out and knocked on what appeared to be nothing.

As I said before now? I wasn't as surprised as much as before, even when a door opened in front of us. We took a step within the door, then we were moving so fast it almost appeared as if we weren't moving.

I almost thought that we were going to meet ancient gods the way things felt. Actually, it wouldn't surprise me at all. I felt Catherine giggle beside me.

"No one really bothers them anymore, not for at least two thousand years. They retired, you might say, they were worn out after a few thousand years. Plus, I think they got a little lazy," Catherine said.

"Not lazy, more like you said just worn out, most of us were," came a loud booming voice.

"Master, may I introduce Zeus," Catherine said.

I nodded my head, as I had thought I wasn't really all that surprised. I also knew that he, along with the others, were obviously immune to Jinns.

"You are correct, nowadays, we try to relax, though we still do watch things. Not all that much, but we do. Now then, young Jinn, what can we do for you?" Zeus asked.

"I am trying to gather as many items as I can to protect my master. He has already released several of the cursed spirits and helpers," Catherine said.

Zeus thought for a few moments then nodded his head as he snapped his fingers. A rather large ring appeared in his hand which he placed on my ring finger. It then shrunk down to perfectly fit my ring finger.

The ring vibrated on my hand as Zeus smiled, then started to glow. Zeus nodded as he pointed to the ring. "This will allow you to survive even the harshest attacks. Be well the both of you and take care of each other."

I just looked at Catherine as I shrugged, she snapped her fingers and we vanished.

Far into the past, Elvantor Hajib was searching for a certain area. An evil smile came to his lips when he stopped over a forgotten area. He put both hands in front of him as he started to chant.

An hour later Elvantor was sweating with the effort that he'd been doing. Suddenly, the ground started to lift in several spots, dead rising from their graves.

"Ah my long past brothers, we are once again together," Elvantor said.

A dry raspy voice suddenly spoke from those that were rising from the graves. "Elvantor, why have you raised us? This will end badly for you if they turn."

A truly evil smile came to Elvantor's features as he picked his words. "The master of legend has appeared. If you take his life, then all of your lives will be restored. I thought that, that would be of interest to all of you."

Finally, the one that had spoken broke free of its grave. "This is of great interest to us all. Be warned though, if you can not provide us with him? Then it will be your body and life that we take to stop the pain of death."

"We will not fail, he is a mere human and, as you know, they are very predictable," Elvantor said as he laughed.

"Most are yes, though this one is said to be infallible, you should study him before you make any plans. It has been said that his honesty is far beyond that of almost all mortal men, beware," the dead Jinn said.

Elvantor scoffed at the idea of a human beating him. "I will keep my eyes open."

"As I said, beware this human, especially if he contacts the ever last master," the dead Jinn said.

"A myth to be for sure," Elvantor said.

"No, he in fact exists, with the protection of no less than seven Jinns," the dead Jinn said. "Do not take this lightly, there are many in the afterlife that are there because of him and them."

Elvantor's head jerked to look at the dead Jinn. He'd heard stories of the ever last master.

"Then we should keep this one from contacting the ever last master, shouldn't we," Elvantor Hajib said.

The dead Jinn started to smile, then stopped. "That may prove more difficult than you think, Elvantor. Besides that, protection, he has also had direct contact with the Great Jinn."

Elvantor's eyes went large at this new information. Well, Elvantor thought, an actual challenge after all. The dead Jinn only stared at Elvantor, this almost seemed an exercise in futility.

The dead Jinn worried a little that its living friend was going to painfully fail. Keeping the ever-last master out of anything was going to be extremely tricky.

He then looked around at the thousands that his living friend had already raised. So far things were going well, though he knew they would turn at a moments notice.

Finally satisfied, Elvantor nodded then motioned and all there vanished. A few moments later a small spirit flittered out from bushes that were nearby.

Putting her hands in front of her, she nodded then blinked as she slowly vanished.

After meeting Zeus, I found that I was more exhausted than I thought. We appeared in what was an optimized luxury room. I looked at Catherine as she smiled at me.

"I thought after the day that you had master, that you'd appreciate a room like this. I found that it has the sofest beds and sheets. Would you like to eat first? I know that the food here is also the best," Catherine said.

I could only stare at the rich furnishings, the super-plush carpets. Damn, I could actually get used to this, I thought. I turned toward Catherine, my mouth wide open.

"Did we displace someone so that we have this room?" I asked.

"No, master, well, only for while we are here. As soon as we go back to our time, all will be as it was," Catherine said.

"Aren't you afraid that you might actually mess up time as it should be?" I asked.

"No, master, as I said, as soon as we are gone, time will be as it should be. I have never had it not corrected after I have left. You worry a great deal, master," Catherine said with a smile.

I sat on the bed and almost groaned at how soft it was. I laid back and was out a moment later.

I awoke hours later with hardly any light in the room, sitting up not recognizing where I was. "Catherine?" I almost shouted when I found that I was also naked under the sheets.

Catherine appeared a moment later a look of worry on her face. "Master? Are you OK?"

"No," I said. "Where in the hell are we?"

"Don't you remember, master? We are on the top floor of the hotel that I saw in your mind. We have the entire top floor just the two of us," she said. "I am sorry, master, you were so tired after everything, and I thought that you deserved the best."

"Where did you sleep?" I asked. "You have to be tired also."

"Oh no master, we Jinns very rarely sleep, though, I have heard that there are a few that do now," Catherine said with a look of confusion on her face.

I could only shake my head, no wonder that they are more slaves to their masters. They didn't sleep; therefore, they didn't dream. Shit I thought, no dreams? Now that really had to suck.

"Thank you, Catherine, I do feel a lot better than I have in some time. I guess we need to keep getting the items," I said.

For once, I felt that Catherine had the biggest and truest smile on her face that I had seen. "It is my pleasure to aid you master," she said.

I had to do a double take as I saw something besides admiration in her eyes. Perhaps it was gratitude? I wasn't sure.

Catherine snapped her fingers, and we were once again in a different place. I looked around, not exactly sure where we were. It was dark even though it was daytime. There was a thick fog, plus a putrid smell. There seemed to be a smelly slime that seemed to cover almost everything.

I almost thought that we were deep in some type of swamp. "Very good master!" An excited Catherine said. "We are, in fact, deep within a swamp somewhere in Austria.

I just nodded as I looked at the moss, the slime, the fog that caused harsh shadows. Plus, there were the odd sounds that seemed to emanate from everywhere.

Then there were the reptiles that seemed to be everywhere that I swore were watching everything that we did. Had I not known that Catherine wasn't about to let anything happen to me? Then I had the crystals, the guardian necklace, plus the ring and the second sister's necklace.

Even with all the protection, I guess I was a normal person as the atmosphere here was creepy as hell. I saw Catherine smile out of the corner of my eye.

"So," I said almost in a whisper. "Who are we here to see? This place isn't that conducive to actually feeling all that good.

Catherine smiled and floated to a tree that was covered in muck. She started to knock on it when a huge hand snatched her out of the air. It started to pull her under the water when I jumped in, grabbing her arm.

At first, I was actually pulling her out of it, most of her out of the water. Then I can only describe what happened next like quite a few more of the hands grabbed hold. We were both quickly dragged under, the whole time Catherine was smiling.

I felt that we were almost to where we were going when I felt it stop, then we were flung out of the water. We landed softer than I thought we would, then were treated to the sight of Elephant Jibby.

"So, Elephant Jibby," I started. "Your ugly face is still alive and making everything stick."

He had a shocked look on his face as he sniffed his body and underarms.

"You will pay for those insults, human. When we are finished with you, you will beg us for death!" Elvantor screamed, his face growing red.

He then fired the biggest bolt of, something that just bounced off me and then him. It was at that moment that I saw the decaying bodies that were moving toward me. Wait, I thought if these are zombies, then how are they walking like regular people?

The bolt that he'd shot at me and bounced off him, struck those that I saw moving toward me. All of them were reduced to ash, then started to slowly reform. Damn, I thought this was worse than all the zombie movies. Then it hit me they weren't zombies, shit undead like vampires, though worse.

I was thinking that Catherine and I needed to get out of here when the sea spirit emerged. It hit the two that were nearest to me. It seemed to suck them dry til they were just husks.

It immediately returned, then I heard Catherine snap her fingers. We were immediately back in the army camp.

I shook my head as I stared at Catherine. "Were the two that the sea spirit hit really gone?" I asked.

"Yes, master, they are, though, at the moment, two less isn't even a drop of water in the ocean. If I remember correctly, Elvantor had hundreds of thousands. He now knows that you have a way to destroy them, though it isn't as widespread as we need," Catherine said.

I just shook my head as I thought, great now I have a target on my back. I thought about it but couldn't really come up with anything.

"You also have to remember, master, this is the first time any of them have been completely destroyed, Catherine said.

"That's all good and well, if he has as many as you said, then we are really short on weapons," I said.