The Entertainer ((Jada Rush))

[CastlesInTheSky]

Ali wondered how many people in Serendipity could say they were heading over to Connlaoth. Not many, he supposed.

"I'm not sure, exactly. Perhaps another part of Serendipity. But surely not Connlaoth. They wouldn't like people like me." He glanced off towards another part of the bar after hearing a shout.

[Anonymous]

"I take it you have some form of magical attributes, then?" he asked with a somewhat understanding smile. He, too, turned to look up at who was doing the shouting.

"I wonder what's going..."

[CastlesInTheSky]

Ali waved the shouting off. "Oh, drunks. They're just being loud I guess."

"Yeah, I have some magic. It's kind of hard to explain, so I'll leave it at that." He glanced over at a window, squinting. "Wow, it feels like it's only been a few minutes since I arrived, but look at how dark it is." He chuckled.

[Anonymous]

Not long after, Gavin made his way upstairs to bed. In the next following days, he and Ali spoke when they got the chance to. They got along pretty well, and he was very grateful for the company.

One night, Gavin retired to his room as usual; however, he didn't return down the next day, nor the day after that.

[CastlesInTheSky]

He had wished the man a nice rest before he left for bed. It was nice talking to someone while he stayed at the inn. He had wanted a brief stop from traveling. It was a good idea, once in a while.

Ali had thought the man had left without notice at first when he didn't see him for a while. He was packing up to leave once again when he heard a whisper about him from the owner of the inn, and asked where he'd be. After he learned he had been in his room all that time, he became a slight bit worried. Was he alright? He ascended the stairs and knocked on the door to Gavin's sleeping quarters. "Are you in there, Gavin?"

[Anonymous]

"Come in, but shut the door after you," he called back weakly. He lay in bed, almost his entire body hidden by the blanket save for part of his right arm. The right side of his face was hidden against the pillow.

[CastlesInTheSky]

"Sure." Ali proceeded to come in and quietly shut the door after him. He turned to the bed. He wondered what was wrong. Had he caught something bad?

"Hey, are you okay? You haven't been outside in days." He sat down on a wooden chest sitting nearby.

[Anonymous]

"I hurt too much to move," he sighed, rolling onto his back to try to get more comfortable. As he moved, the side of his face pulled away from the pillow, revealing a large cluster of scars around his right eye.

"It's hard for me to be so close to a large body of water. It hurts my bones."

[CastlesInTheSky]

Ali frowned a bit. It must be terribly inconvenient and rather painful not to be able to move because of that. As he turned over, the scars caught his interest, though he didn't ask about them. Only if Gavin wanted to tell him.

"That's a shame. I see why you want to go away from here, now." Ali fought against his good-hearted nature. All of this made him want to offer this man who had been friendly to  him a wish, but he had learned to be cautious about that all. He thought of something else he could do to help perhaps a bit. "Do you think a song could make you feel a bit better? I'm no healer, but I can play a decent tune, if you'd think it would be nice." He offered a smile.

[Anonymous]

"Ah, please don't take this wrong, but I'd rather not hear music at the moment," he said with a small, pained laugh. "Though I wouldn't say no to a little company and help sitting up. Laying for so long only makes it worse. It must sound silly that I want to go to Connlaoth, despite it being near the sea as well. But I've heard tell that their medicine is more advanced, and healers can only help me temporarily."

[CastlesInTheSky]

Ali nodded. He didn't mind, he was just trying to help out. "Sure. And depends on the healer." He got up and helped him sit up carefully, trying his best to be gentle as not to make him feel worse. He took the opportunity to examine the scars on Gavin's face for a moment. They looked like they must've been very painful wounds. He stepped back away, moving what he had been sitting on a bit closer and sitting on it again.

"So, did you catch an illness? Are you doing alright?"

[Anonymous]

"My wounds are thirty years old, healers have trouble helping them at all. And...there are several unique things about them. I may tell you some day if we get to now each other better," he said with a soft smile, making himself more comfortable. The blanket fell away from his shoulders and bare chest, resting in his lap.

"I'm not sick. Just in a lot of pain. You know how sometimes older people hurt but there's really not much explanation for it? I experience pain similar to that."

[CastlesInTheSky]

Ali nodded as he spoke. That was interesting. He wondered where they came from, but didn't ask, as he didn't want to tell, and he was fine with that. Everyone had secrets. He wondered where the scar on his chest was from, too.

"Oh, I see. It must be irritating, to be not able to move for a while because of that. I'm fortunate, because I am spared of many problems that humans face." He sighed inwardly at the wording of the sentence. Well, that seemed a bit...strange.

[Anonymous]

"It can get quite frustrating, yeah," he said with a light nod. "It also makes traveling alone very dangerous for me. I never know when it's going to hit hard enough that I can't walk, or how long it'll last. Being human can be a real pain sometimes -- literally -- but I wouldn't choose to be anything other than what I am. I don't think there's anything wrong with not being human. I'm just happy with being what I am."

[CastlesInTheSky]

Ali listened, interested. Traveling would be hard if you had to worry about collapsing out of nowhere. Poor guy. He frowned slightly. At least he was happy as he was, and that brought a content look back to his face. "It's good that you're happy with what you are. I suppose I'm happy enough with what I am. But it just complicates things." He sighed. "I hope you have nothing wrong with a nonhuman having a chat with you?"

[Anonymous]

"If I had a problem with it I would've thrown a fit for you to leave," he chuckled. "I have nothing against non-humans so long as they're good people. And so far most of them seem to be."

[CastlesInTheSky]

Ali chuckled as well. "I suppose you have a point. And I suppose you're lucky as to what I am." He shrugged. "I'm something like what you may call a 'genie'. Wishes, all those things. And I'm older than I look." He smiled at him, amusement on his features.

[Anonymous]

"Ah, so saying 'I wish...' is dangerous around you. I'll have to be careful, then," he said with a warm smile. "Wouldn't want to rope you into something, now would I? If you had told me this several years ago, I never would've believed you. But I've learned a great deal about other beings in the last few years. Out of curiosity, how does it work? If you're comfortable telling me, that is. Where I'm from genies are believed to live in lamps that you rub the side of. They appear from the lamp when summoned and give you three wishes. Usually there's a terrible catch, and most genies aren't generous enough to warn those who summon them of the horrible price they'll have to pay in exchange for their wishes."

[CastlesInTheSky]

Ali smiled back. A few people didn't believe him, no matter where they were from. Which, in the long run, was very helpful. Granting wishes left and right was quite chaotic and tiring.

He was sure glad he wasn't stuck in a bottle. How inconvenient. He was also glad that he didn't make wishes granted badly like his brother. He always tried his best to make the wish come true in the best way possible. "I can't speak for all wish-granting beings, or even all of my family. We are just like humans in appearance, and we can change our looks somewhat. And as for the wishes, for me to grant them, I have to say that I'll grant you 3 wishes, and then I'm stuck with my choice until they are all granted. And I grant them nicely. There's no catches with mine, really. Besides I might follow the person around for a while."

[Anonymous]

"At least you're kind about it," he laughed, struggling to sit up a bit more.

"And I suppose that if you can trust me with such an important secret, I should be able to trust you with mine. Mine might be even less believable than yours is," he said with a devious smirk. He pulled the blanket up, revealing his badly scarred legs, ankles, and feet. On his legs were braces made of strong metal, pieces of rubber, and small cushions that rested against his body to make them more comfortable. The craftsmanship could be considered alien, being much farther advanced than anything in this world.

"I'm from the future. A very, very distant future. I would say that I don't know if it's the future of this world or not, but I'm fairly certain that it isn't. We have many stories of beings like what can be found here, but with as many as there are, I don't think it would be possible for none of them to have survived. I don't know how I got here. I just woke up one day and found myself in the outskirts of a forest. I had the belongings with me that I last remembered having, but I don't know how I came here, or how my things managed to come with me. In all honesty...I think Tiki and I might've died, only to awaken here. It's the only thing that makes even a small amount of sense to me. I remember being in my car with Tiki, and then nothing before I woke up here. I wonder if we crashed and were thrown from it. Because it didn't make it here with us, and neither did the items I kept inside it. Only the things that had been touching me that weren't attached to the car."