Empty Bottle
You look at the bottle. You gasp. The genie was not mocking you without cause. You were so foolish to not notice before. The bottle is empty! There is nothing inside. No fluid or dust or goo or tiny eats. It is vacant and clean.
“I can make you the potion. There is a spell I know very well,” he says. Then he backs away again and tucks the small bottle into the dark blue fabric of his belt. “But to craft the potion I will need something from you.”
“I have nothing to give you!” You stomp your right forward paw against the ground in irritation. “You turned me into this thing and I don’t even have the clothes I was wearing before that.”
The genie shakes his head at you. His grin and hearty chuckle almost bring tears to your eyes. “It is nothing like that. What I need from you is a piece of fruit from the Mutatio Tree.” As the genie speaks, he creates a cloud with a mirror at its core. At first, the reflection is your own. Then, as you stare more intently at the surface, the image changes. The scene pulls away from you and shows that you and the genie are standing in an oasis in the midst of a great desert. You see through a bird’s-eye view the landscape towards the Northeast. “You must travel through the Bonedust Desert, to the Dreamer’s Forest.” The desert turns to forest and the scene drifts over canopy and rock until it reaches a river. It slows to show you the river in closer detail. “From there, you will find the Yellow Tongue River. Just cross at the leaping stones and you’ll make it across without worry. On the other side you will find a clearing. In the center of the clearing is the Mutatio Tree.” The magic mirror shows you how to cross the river, where to go through the brush on the other side, and takes you to the clearing. You see the mighty tree in the reflection and do your best to memorize every detail of the path and object shown but the amount of detail is overwhelming. Your eyes widen and your pupils slit as the mirror’s vision closes in on the tree’s thick, leafy branches and a piece of fruit like a glowing golden pear comes into sight. “This is the fruit I require. Fetch me a single piece and I’ll craft the potion as promised.”
Your mind is racing. The mirror vanishes and the genie begins to disappear from sight, tail first. You slowly pad towards him, your jaw flapping as you incoherently babble in his direction. “W-wait! How do I-? What am I supposed to-? What if I can’t find it? Why can’t you just-? No! Wait! Don’t go! I- Wai- No! Hold on!”
It is too late. He is gone. Now, you must travel to the forest and do what the genie asked or else you will be stuck in the form of a sphinx forever.
With no other choice, you begin your journey.
Written by on 21 March 2019