A Girl and her Genie (Rot)

Jemmy's eyes opened wide. She could sense it. The magical scent was overwhelming. Finally, the banished Lord of Chaos had found what she had been looking for.

She ran into a toy store, which would have been exciting in its own right, but she was here for something specific. Very specific. She reached the discount bin and started throwing toys out it, digging down deeper into the piles of plastic. It was here. It was so close she could taste it, literally. The magic was enticing. She actually started to drool, drawing the disgusted attention of other people. Who was this little girl digging so furiously through the discount bin?

Then she grabbed it. The obsidian locket was in her hand. Jemmy laughed loudly, drawing some annoyed glances. Let them be annoyed! She rubbed the locket, summoning forth the great genie Melkor. People ran as the armored giant appeared in a pillar of fire, hovering in the air.

"It's been too long, my friend," Jemmy said, her smile growing unnaturally wide.

Melkor felt a presence, diminished but familiar, he felt the powerful being come close and became more interested. He watched from the locket and saw a young girl. This was not so familiar. Melkor felt the summoning and appeared as normal in a column of fire. Old friend?

Melkor looked the young girl over for a long moment before saying seriously. "Well my new master, you are familiar but different. Have you perhaps lost weight... or power?" Melkor had a suspicion that this was the former god of chaos known as Shivering Jemmy, among names older than most beings were capable of knowing. he watched for the girls reaction. The store had been evacuated due to the fire which Melkor didn't seem to notice.

Jemmy laughed loudly in her high-pitched voice. Finally, here was someone who knew how to show her some respect.

"I have lost both," Jemmy said. She was glad that the genie thought she was familiar. "Hello Melkor. I am Shivering Jemmy of the Shallow Brigade, Lord of Chaos. Selfish and shallow desires are my domain, as is delirium. I need your help, Melkor. Mordru has punished me, weakened me, and chained me to this world."

The girl's eyes started glowing orange with excitement. It was time to make her wish. "Restore me to my former glory as a Lord of Chaos! As the master of this locket, I command it!"

Melkor listened intently to every word of her introduction and bowed again when she was complete. Melkor then listened to his wish and she could feel him hesitate. He began to think quickly and said. "Of course master, however I shouldn't grant you this wish. We both know I'm capable but consider this, your power was taken as a punishment. If I return it they will only be taken again. Now I normally don't assist with my masters wishes as it's cheating. I would recommend that you wish not for your former glory, but to be the only Lord of Chaos, to have the power of all the Lords of Chaos."

Melkor hoped that suggesting such a wish would not only protect him from backlash from the others but also endear him in her eyes. Being a creature made of magic there was quite a bit to fear from a person who ate magic.

Melkor began to advise her, saying that her wish was not the best decision. Jemmy thought it over. Wishing to be the only Lord of Chaos? To have Mordru, Keeper, and the others destroyed was a delicious thought indeed.

But no, that would not be a wise wish either. Even with the genie's power, Jemmy knew that there was no way such a wish could succeed. The other Lords of Chaos were powerful, more powerful than Jemmy had ever been. And to defeat all except Mordru would still be a sure defeat. There was no way that Melkor's magic would affect Mordru.

And even if it did, being the only Lord of Chaos meant that Jemmy alone would stand against the Lords of Order. Against their combined forces, she stood no chance.

Magic sure was tricky.

Jemmy finished her thinking and looked at the genie, a bit surprised. Even though she disagreed with his suggestion, the being had tried to help her. Nobody had ever tried to help Jemmy before. At least, nobody who knew who she really was. Jemmy smiled genuinely at him.

"Thank you for the advice. I accidentally left out a part of the story. My punishment was to regain my powers on my own, without the assistance of any of the other Lords of Chaos. Using your power will be acceptable. Unless I get my power back on my own, Mordru will never return them to me. Please, Melkor, restore me to my former glory. Nothing more, and nothing less."

There was another way she could regain her power. She could eat this genie. Jemmy didn't want to do that, though. Melkor had been kind to her, and she had recently been wishing for a friend. However, if Melkor didn't deliver, Jemmy would not hesitate to devour every bit of his magical energy.

Melkor considered the statement that she was to regain her powers on her own. While he didn't feel this was in the bounds of what would be considered on her own he wasn't one to argue with a magic eater. Melkor reached out and put his hand on the top of her head saying. "Very well Shivering Jemmy. By your wish I shall restore you to your former glory."

There was an intense pulse of magic that sent energy into her her wish was coming true. And then the magic stopped, she had been fully restored in a matter of seconds. Melkor looked down at the young girl and said. "As you commanded master so it is. May I request something of a Lord of Chaos in return?" Melkor saw this as a chance for freedom the chance to be rid of the horrid locket that kept him contained and restrained.

Melkor granted her wish. Jemmy could feel the magic rushing into her, filling her with unimaginable power. This was how it had always been, she thought. And this was how it was always going to be. She was once again a being of overwhelming cosmic power. A full-fledged Lord of Chaos.

She knew that the other lords were aware of her transformation. She should probably go report to them, if only to throw her nose into the air. But first, she needed to finish her business with this genie.

He was asking her for a favor? Jemmy found it odd for a genie to ask for something. Then again, she had just asked for something herself.

"You have done well, Melkor. Jemmy is pleased. If you want a reward, then ask now, while you have my favor." Jemmy never actually said that she would grant his request. She would have to see what it was first. Even as a Lord of Chaos, there were things she simply couldn't do. Also, as a shallow and selfish entity, there were many things that she simply wouldn't do.

Melkor nodded looked at Jemmy and bowed before her. He shrank down so she stood taller than him as a sign of respect. He looked up to Jemmy with his glowing orange eyes. He was working to build up her sense of superiority and play off her ego.

"Great and powerful Jemmy, perhaps you would find it within your power to destroy the curse binding me to the locket. Release me from the tether to truly wander the earth and spread fear through the humans with their own wishes. Imagine, everyone gets their wish at no cost. The city would devolve into pure chaos in hours."

Melkor waited for her answer expecting nothing but hoping she would be capable, his own magic couldn't affect the locket but she ate magic. Perhaps she could simply eat the binding curse.

Melkor shrank down to be smaller than Jemmy, and that was saying something. Since the Lord of Chaos stood a mere 4 feet tall, the genie had to get really small in order to take on a comparatively humble size. Jemmy laughed. She knew he was trying to take advantage of her pride, but she didn't care. It felt good to be big. It felt good to be strong. And it felt good to be prideful.

A red balloon appeared in the air above Jemmy. She took notice of it and smiled up at her familiar. That's right, to even be on this world, she needed an anchor. It was a liability, but it was necessary.

Melkor wanted to be free of his locket? Jemmy thought for a moment. His locket was like her balloon. It anchored him to this world. Were Jemmy to simply destroy the locket, it might kill the genie outright. Either that or destroy any sort of his self-awareness. If there was a way to truly release the genie from his locket and allow him free reign over the earth, Jemmy didn't know it. She had been looking for that answer for years. There was one person who would know, though. Mordru. The old man showed up wherever he wanted and brought with him no anchor. He had obtained this ability, Jemmy assumed, by becoming the greatest sorcerer in the universe. Such a feat was not only beyond her, but the rest of the Lords of Chaos as well.

"I think I would end up doing more harm than good," Jemmy said. "But your heartfelt request has touched me, and I would like to help you out. You have a dream of a world in chaos. It's a beautiful dream, I think, and one that I share. Tell you what, why don't you just hang out with me? I could just hang on to this locket, and together, we could make sure your dream becomes reality. You wouldn't need to bow to lowly humans, anymore. You'd be working for me, a Lord of Chaos. There aren't many honors higher than that. Together, you and I can have a really fun time together, and then your locket shouldn't be a very big problem, right?"

Melkor sighed at the news and tapped his foot and his flames flared up. He looked at Jemmy the newly reborn lady of chaos. He knelt down and held his hands out to her as though begging and looked up molten brass running down his cheeks from the firey eyes. "Dear sweet Lady of Chaos, I can only grant someone three wishes. Will you please grant a different one then, before I am forced back to a pathetic human. Devour me, take my power as fuel for you own. Make me a part of something greater than myself. I would rather be destroyed than live through another universe."
His words were completely sincere and carried a sense of being tired of existence, something that wasn't hard to imagine of a being who lived through the destruction of the last universe and this long into the new one.

Jemmy frowned. Melkor wanted to die?

She tried to imagine his dilemma. He said that he could only grant 3 wishes, meaning that he couldn't just be her genie for life. Eventually, he would have to get another master. What would Jemmy do if she was forced to serve a human? She couldn't imagine the disgrace. Working for such a low creature would be a fate worse than death, Jemmy decided.

She had felt like Melkor was the one person she might be able to befriend...at least a little bit. But if she wanted to be a true friend, she needed to grant his wish. She needed to end his existence before he suffered for the rest of time.

"If that is what you really desire, then I will grant your wish." Her eyes glowed such a violent orange that it changed the very lighting of the room. Jemmy's shivering grew more intense as her body inflated, just like a balloon. Within a few seconds, the diminutive girl had become a 14 foot tall giant, almost as wide as she was tall. Her innocent, child like features had been distorted into gruesome, grotesque body parts.

Jemmy reached out with a fat, shivering hand and grabbed Melkor around the torso. She spoke again, her voice much deeper now. "You will become part of something greater than yourself. I shall devour you, Melkor, and you shall be a part of me. Everywhere I go, your magical energy, your essence, shall be with me."

Jemmy opened her giant mouth, baring huge, sharp teeth. She bit off Melkor's arm and swallowed it whole. She fed off his magical energy, taking it for herself.

THE TASTE! It was like nothing Jemmy could remember. The stronger the magic was, the better it tasted to her, and this genie had so much power. It was sweeter than sugar, and more filling than flesh.

She took another bite, taking his other arm this time. The flames coming off the genie danced around her, catching her face and arm on fire. The fire didn't hurt, nor did it actually harm her. If anything, it made the meal more enticing. This meat was cooking itself.

Jemmy bit off Melkor's head, along with half of his torso. The next bite devoured the rest of his body, but the genie wasn't dead yet. Jemmy picked up the small locket. The trinket contained the true source of the genie's magic. She couldn't imagine how good it would taste.

Jemmy tossed the locket in her mouth, where it was destroyed and absorbed into her body. Jemmy felt the pure white life energy fill her. It was beyond description, a moment of paradise. She had devoured the very essence of the genie.

In the same day, she had regained her status as a Lord of Chaos, and she had eaten the best meal of her life. Jemmy decided that she would always remember this day.

"Your wish has been granted." She said to the magical energy filling her stomach. A moment later, the giant disappeared from the toy store. She had teleported to some other place, somewhere very far away.