The Bottle Ch. 03

When I awoke I knew immediately that something was wrong. Or, at least, I thought as I stretched, different... My sheets weren't this soft... I opened my eyes and blinked muzzily up at the canopy of the bed. I was still in Algave's pocket dimension, I realized.

I heard a soft noise beside me, and rolled over to look. Algave slept beside me. He looked peaceful.

Slowly, I slipped out of bed. My cell phone was exactly where I'd left it, halfway out of my discarded pants. I picked it up and checked the time. Five thirty six. If this was a normal day, I'd have just left work. I sighed, and wondered vaguely why Dr. Thompson hadn't called.

I examined the room. It was ornate, with lots of purple and gold. A bit tacky, in this day and age, but 1000 years ago it would have seemed quite impressive. I rested my hand on a golden lion statue. Had Algave put this space together purely for his own enjoyment, or was he trying to impress me?

No doors, I noted. If this actually was a space outside the universe, as Algave had said, that made sense. I wasn't going to be able to leave on my own. I sighed, and looked over at the sleeping djin. Waking him seemed like a bad idea.

When I attempted to access the internet, I realized why I hadn't gotten a call from my boss. No bars. It seemed obvious when I thought about it.

"Space outside the universe means no cell towers," I muttered. "No shit, Bekka."

With nothing else to do, I looked around the room some more. It all seemed to have been generated when Algave put this place together; nothing seemed out of place. Except... I pulled the bottle I'd released Algave from out of a drawer. This did not match the decor. I wondered why Algave had kept it.

I heard a strangled noise from the bed, like someone trying, and failing, to scream. I looked over at Algave. He made another strangled noise, and his head tossed from side to side. A nightmare?

"Should I wake him?" I wondered aloud. It might not be safe. On the other hand, he looked so distressed. It pained me to leave him suffering like this.

Algave thrashed in the bed, and I gave in to my softer side. I slid into bed beside him and gripped his shoulder. "Algave! Wake up!"

Algave's eyes jerked open, and he jerked out of my grip. "What?"

"You were having a nightmare," I told him, gently tugging on his arm. "Calm down. It's ok."

Algave let me pull him into my lap. "It wasn't," he told me, "Just a nightmare."

I began to stroke his hair. "It's ok. You're ok. Whatever you were remembering, it's over now."

Algave shuddered. "Over."

We sat in silence for a moment, and then Algave jerked out of my hold. "What is that," he demanded, "Doing on the table?" He pointed to the bottle.

I blinked. "I woke before you, and I was-"

He grabbed me and shook me. "Never, ever touch that again. Do you understand? Do you understand me?"

Frightened, I nodded.

Algave shoved me off the bed. "Put your clothes on. I'm taking you home."

His intense, fiery gaze followed me as I gathered my things and put them on. "Good," he said when I was dressed, and grabbed my arm. Suddenly, we were in my apartment. He shoved me away from him, and then he was gone.

I shivered, remembering the tightly coiled rage in his eyes. "Ok, no messing with the bottle," I muttered. "Easy enough."

*

The next day, I went to work as usual, butterflies in my stomach as I attempted to come up with an explanation for my disappearance. My mentor, however, just nodded when I came into her office, and gave me a sympathetic smile. "I'm glad you're feeling better, Bekka," she said. "Food poisoning sucks."

Food poisoning? Then I remembered telling her my lunch disagreed with me. Apparently, when I'd vanished, she'd jumped to the obvious conclusion. "I'm definitely feeling better," I told her. "What's on the agenda today?"

Dr. Thompson smiled. "It's attic day again."

I winced. "Already? Don't we still have stuff from last attic day?"

My mentor shook her head. "It's all been taken care of. Even that pottery piece you were working on. I handed that off to Ricky, and he did an admirable job." She smiled. "Not to say you wouldn't have done an admirable job, but you got sick, and Ricky was looking for something to do. Care to join me in the attic, or should I get someone else?"

I began to fish around in my purse. "Give me a sec to find my allergy medication, and I'll manage."

Dr. Thompson nodded. "I knew I could count on you, Bekka."

*

The attic was a mess. We'd sorted out most, if not all, of the stuff that needed preservation a long time ago. The rest just needed to be cataloged. Or, in some cases, thrown away.

I searched the cushions in a worn out couch, and came up with a handful of coins. "Might have found something." Nickel, nickel, penny, quarter... pay dirt. "It's an old coin," I called to Dr. Thompson, who was in a different part of the attic. "Looks like it might be gold." Few other metals would be this shiny after who knows how long in a couch.

"A good find," Dr. Thompson called back.

We worked in silence for a few more minutes. Then I heard a gasp. "This is gorgeous! Bekka, come see!"

I picked up my lamp and headed for my mentor. "What did you find?"

"A bottle," she said. "It feels like it has something inside."

My heart stuttered. "Is it stoppered with lead?"

"Yes," called Dr. Thompson. "I think I can get it-"

I rounded the corner just as Dr. Thompson popped the lead free. "Out," she finished.

We both froze as fire swirled up from the bottle's mouth. The only thing I could think was. "Oh, shit, not again, not again..."

The fire coalesced into a man right next to the professor. Dr. Thompson shook free of her shock. "Who-"

The man smiled, and a knife appeared in his hand. With it, he stabbed the professor. I stifled a scream. The doctor gripped the wound in her stomach, and slowly sank to the ground.

The djin met my gaze with an evil smile. "Try to run," he suggested to me as he stepped out of the lamp's area of light and faded into the darkness.

I hurried to the professor's side. As she lost consciousness, I pressed my hand to the wound on her side. I could think of only one thing to do. "Algave!" I called. I had no idea if he could hear me, or, if he did, if he would come. "Algave, help me!"

Algave appeared in front of me. "What-" he began. Then he noticed the professor. He bent over her, and gently moved my hand aside. His hand brushed her side, and the wound was gone. Then he turned to me. "What hap-"

That was when the other djin attacked. He came at Algave from the darkness, laughing, bloody knife in hand. I screamed, but Algave raised his hand, and a glowing shield blocked the knife. With his other hand, he gestured, as if drawing a sword, and, suddenly, a sword appeared.

The fight was brutal. The evil djin attacked with berserker ferocity, but Algave cooly blocked his wild thrusts. One cut his arm. I gasped, but the wound was gone in a heartbeat.

Sparks flew around the two as they, presumably, contested each other magically. Half formed shapes appeared in the air around them. A fire. A knife. A dragon?

The other djin vanished, appearing directly behind Algave, but Algave seemed to be expecting this, and whirled to block. Then, for the first time, Algave made his own attack. It hit home. The other djin shrieked, and waved his hand over the wound. It vanished, but Algave was already thrusting once more.

Several neat slices and thrusts later, the other djin was covered in blood. Both djin were breathing heavily. The other djin had mostly abandoned defense, but some of his desperate attacks were getting through.

Algave vanished. The other djin whirled, expecting Algave to appear directly behind him, but Algave appeared at his side instead. One final thrust. The other djin vanished.

Algave sank to his knees, panting. His sword vanished. Then he collapsed on the dusty floor.

I ran to him. "Algave! Are you alright?"

He looked up at me blearily. "Why do you care?"

I knelt beside him. "Because you just saved my life, stupid."

He shook his head. "I've been nothing but horrible to you."

I sighed. "You could have done much worse. Can we discuss this later?"

Algave pulled away from me. "I... I hurt you." His eyes filled. "Maybe I deserve to die."

I huffed. "That's just the exhaustion talking. You're a good person. When you appeared just now, your first reaction was to heal the professor."

"Who is very grateful for it," put in the professor, blinking at the two of us. "What the hell is going on?"

Algave looked over at her. "You probably shouldn't be standing," he began as she rose to her feet.

She snorted. "I'm fine. You, on the other hand, look like shit. Who, and what, are you?"

"His name is Algave," I put in helpfully. "He's a djin."

I turned to Algave. "Shouldn't you be poofing off somewhere to rest?"

Algave huffed a laugh. "Can't poof anywhere right now. Not enough magic."

I nodded. "I'd better take you home, then."

The professor snorted again. "I'll help." She gave Algave a pointed once over. "There is no way you can get him home via public transit."

*

Once Algave was asleep in my bed, I made tea for myself and the professor. Heat the water. Pour the leaves into the tea ball. Put the tea ball in the boiling water. Stir three times. The ritual was soothing, and always had been. It helped me gather my thoughts.

The professor was sitting on my couch. As I poured the tea into two cups, one for me, one for her, she asked the obvious question. "What in the hell is going on?"

I shrugged, bringing one cup to her. "You know almost as much as I do. Algave hasn't exactly been forthcoming. Milk or sugar?"

The professor waved off the milk, but added a bit of sugar to her cup. "Did he come out of a bottle as well?"

I nodded as I squeezed a dollop of honey into my cup. Local honey, to help with my allergies. "I opened his the night before last."

Dr. Thompson raised an eyebrow pointedly. "Where did you get it?"

"Not from the museum," I said hurriedly. "My grandparents on my mother's side liked to travel. I inherited most of their souvenirs." I shrugged. "Most of them are cheap tourist junk, but I guess somehow they got their hands on a genuine artifact. I had to melt the lead to get it out."

Dr. Thompson nodded slowly. "Did he attack you?"

"Well..." I blushed. "Not exactly? I don't want to talk about it."

The professor's eyes were knowing, but she didn't press. "What has he told you?"

I shrugged. "Not much. He said he'd been in there over 1000 years, and he said something about mermaids and dragons being real..." I trailed off, shrugging again.

"Fascinating," murmured Dr. Thompson. "I did my dissertation on the depiction of dragons in historical art. It's interesting how some of the similarities between cultural depictions predate when those cultures came into contact. I had wondered, when I was young..." She shook her head. "But were could a dragon hide, in this day and age?"

"Maybe they got wiped out?" I suggested. "Or perhaps they can use magic to hide themselves. Algave certainly can, when he wants to."

Dr. Thompson frowned. "When you were acting oddly yesterday, was that because he was there?"

I blushed again. "Yes."

Dr. Thompson finished her tea. "Well, I've got to get back to the museum. We've got a new undergrad coming in this afternoon." Standing, she picked up her purse. "You've got today off, with full pay. Tomorrow, too."

I blinked, surprised. Dr. Thompson was usually very tight with the Jensen foundation's cash. "Thanks!"

Dr. Thompson nodded. "In return, I expect to be kept in the loop about how Algave is doing, and what he's told you in regards to magic and his own history." Her eyes lit up suddenly. "I feel like I'm in a fantasy novel. Magic! Djin! Dragons..." She shrugged, regaining her composure. "It is quite interesting, both from a personal and a professional perspective."

"You're not going to tell anyone, are you?" I asked anxiously.

Dr. Thompson shook her head. "Of course not. The resulting media blitz would not be conducive to proper study." She looked at me pointedly. "And you?"

I shook my head vigorously, feeling very maternal. "I don't want to put Algave through that. He's been through enough."

Dr. Thompson nodded once. "Of course. Now, I must be getting back." She turned, and headed out the door. "Goodbye, Bekka. Take good care of him." She looked over her shoulder, gaze gentle. "After all, he did save both our lives."

*

Around noon Algave awoke. He stumbled out into the kitchen/living area, where I was busily making chicken soup. "This is almost ready," I told him. "Then you can have something to eat." I paused, a sudden thought occurring to me. "You do need to eat, right?"

Algave laughed. "Yes, djin need to eat just as much as humans do." He sat gingerly on the couch. "Moreso when we need to recover magic."

I nodded decisively. "It's a good thing I made a lot, then." And there was more broth frozen, so I could make even more if need be.

I carefully stirred the soup three times clockwise, then three times counterclockwise. Three times clockwise, three times counterclockwise. I wasn't sure why, but I'd always stirred food like that, very slowly and deliberately, like I was taking part in some sort of magic ritual.

"Dr. Thompson went back to the museum," I told him.

He nodded. "Is she alright?"

I nodded. "She's fine. Thanks to you."

The tea kettle began to boil. I hurriedly finished the last two counterclockwise circles before pulling the kettle off the stove. "Do you like tea?"

Algave shrugged. "No idea. But I'm willing to try."

Silence hovered awkwardly between us as the tea steeped. I wanted to ask him about dragons, and mermaids, and other djin. About how he'd ended up in the bottle. About... Oh, there were all sorts of things I wanted to ask him, but I didn't want to press until he felt better.

Algave broke the silence as I pulled the tea ball out of the pot. The second steeping was always the best. "It, umm, occurs to me that you might not realize that the other djin, the one that attacked you, probably isn't dead."

I poured the tea into two cups. "I wasn't sure," I admitted. "I mean, you stabbed him, and he vanished, and for all I know you lot vanish when you die."

Algave shook his head. "Djin return to fire when they die, just as humans return to earth." He smiled wryly. "Though the process is faster for us. If he'd died when I struck him, his corpse would have set the attic on fire. He vanished because he teleported." Algave shrugged. "It's possible he died after that. He was badly wounded, and I think he was low on magic."

I frowned, setting a cup in front of Algave and returning to the stove. "That's not good. He seemed a bit... Nuts." Three clockwise, three counterclockwise. "What should we do? Do your people have anything like a police force?"

"We did," Algave murmured, sounding lost.

I looked over at him sharply. "Did?"

Algave was crying. "My people. They're gone."

Carefully, I turned off the stove and moved the soup to a cool burner. Then I hurried over to Algave. Sitting beside him, I wrapped my arms around his shoulders as he cried. For a long time, neither of us said anything. Then, as he began to calm, I asked, "What happened?"

Algave shook his head. "I don't know. The cities outside the universe are gone. The ones on earth are in ruins, or buried, or..." He trailed off, shaking his head. "They're just gone." He looked up at me. "I've been stuck in a bottle for over a thousand years. You're more likely to know than me."

I shook my head. "I know some old stories, but nothing to suggest why your people vanished."

Algave sighed. "I thought not."

We sat in silence for another moment. Then I stood. "I'll get you some soup, ok? You'll feel better once you've eaten."

Algave nodded morosely. "Perhaps."

I dished the soup into a large bowl, and carried it over to Algave. As I set it down before him, he blinked in surprise. "I thought you didn't know anything about human magic."

I frowned. "I don't."

Algave gestured to the soup. "Then what is this?"

"Chicken soup," I said slowly. "Ordinary chicken soup. It's homemade, and I think it's delicious, but aside from that, it's perfectly ordinary."

Algave shook his head. "It's infused with healing magic." He squinted down at the bowl. "It's weak, and I wouldn't have noticed it if I wasn't trained to recognize human magic, but it's definitely there." He looked up at me. "How did you prepare it?"

I frowned thoughtfully. "Well, I started with a whole chicken..." As I explained my process, Algave asked questions. I blushed a bit when I told him about my almost compulsive stirring process.

Algave nodded slowly as he took the last bite of soup. "I've seen healers making potions stir in exactly that same way. Back before I was in the bottle." He looked up at me. "No one taught it to you? You just started doing it on your own?"

I shook my head. "I've never even told anyone about the habit."

Algave frowned. "I've never heard of a human learning magic without either a teacher or a large library of spell books. But you," he looked down at the empty soup bowl, "Obviously learned a spell. The soup was delicious, by the way. And it's making me feel a lot better."

I shrugged. "Ok, great. What do we do now?"

Algave grinned roguishly. "Well, we could see how much bouncing it takes to break your bed."

I looked him firmly in the eye. "No." I hoped he'd listen.

Algave sighed. "It was merely a suggestion." He looked me over. "It's hard not to make suggestions like that. Even remembering... What I did before. You are incredibly beautiful." He shrugged. "And we are technically married."

I glared at him. "About that-"

Before I could finish, Algave cut me off. "I can't undo it."

"Can't?" I asked pointedly. "Or won't?"

"Can't. The rings you wear were made with help from a djin priest and a powerful human mage." Algave sighed. "I can't undo them alone."

"Shouldn't I have gotten a say in this?" I asked. "Human marriages involve the bride saying something along the line of 'yes.'"

He shrugged. "The rings were made with the assumption that both parties agreed to the marriage."

"You're talking about before you ended up in a bottle, right?" I asked. "The rings were made then? Were you engaged?"

Algave frowned. "I really don't want to talk about it."

"But-" I began.

Algave stood in one rapid motion, knocking over the TV tray. "I said I don't want to talk about it! What happened is none of your business!"

I was scared. Algave looked furious. But I stood my ground. "I'd say it is, since the result is me being married to you."

Algave winced. "Look, we don't have to treat it like a marriage. Not if you don't want to. You can do whatever you want with other men. Or women, if it strikes your fancy. I'll just," he shrugged, "Not have anything to do with you unless you call me." He smiled sheepishly. "There are benefits. You're immune to age and disease. There's a certain amount of protective magic in the rings, too, and if you call my name, I hear you, and I'm compelled to come."

I blinked. "I won't age?"

Algave shook his head. "No more than I do."

"That's... ummm..." I wasn't sure how to feel about that. The idea of outliving the people important to me stung a bit.

Algave awkwardly retrieved the TV tray and the dishes. "I'm sorry about this," he said. I wasn't sure if he was apologizing about the mess, or the situation he'd gotten me into.

I sighed. "To a certain extent, it isn't your fault. Being stuck in a bottle for that long would probably make me a bit crazy for a while." I smiled wryly. "Probably more than a bit crazy. Frankly, if you were aware the entire time, I'm surprised you're as sane as you are."