Trick Magic
You mull over the choices for a moment, and while you aren’t entirely sure regarding whether inside or outside would be the better way to go, you do decide on the other.
“I say we let Moirine be the one to interact with him first,” you remark, although you do pause to consider some things. “But, do you think it’ll be effective? Do you think Moirine in human form would work, though? I mean, what if he suspects that more selkie will show up, or, what if something tips him off to what we’re trying to do before we do it?”
“We’d know if he was outside his stinking lamp,” Moirine says. She snorts. “I can tell from the stench that he’s holed up in there, probably sleeping his arse away.”
Fia nods to her. “She’s right, pup. And you needn’t worry about the yaksha informing him. Like I said, they don’t like him being in their shop at all, and to go one step further, the yaksha and djinn utterly fucking loathe one another. Their hatred runs deeper than any rivalry or disdain between any species in existence, human or otherwise, so the last thing those running this shop would ever do is stoop to gossiping with a djinn like him.”
You frown. “Then why would they have a genie’s lamp in their shop?”
“Because it gives them some smug satisfaction at ‘owning’ a djinn,” Fia replies simply.
You blink several times, then accept this, because she said it so sincerely.
“As far as it working or not,” Moirine says. “Fia told you, pup: he won’t suspect. Djinn aren’t mind-readers the way yaksha are – and we selkie are one of the handful of beings that can fully disguise ourselves as humans. I didn’t tell you this earlier, but,” she grins, “we can effectively hide our magic from most others by concentrating enough. It’s like flicking a switch in our heads to turn ‘off’ our magic, which fools many others.”
“I see,” you say. “So he won’t expect you’re a selkie. Then what?”
Moirine glances to Fia. “Good question. What do you want me to say to trick him, Fia?”
Fia smirks. “He thinks he’s outsmarted me, and, thus he thinks he’s gotten away with the loophole he feels he abused with what he did. My suggestion is you act as if you’re a normal human that’s stumbled upon this Shard. Walk around, eye some of the wares on display, and then find that lamp where he’s stowed himself in. Rub it, let him manifest and run his mouth for a bit, you know the deal when it comes to chatty djinn.”
“Right,” Moirine says.
“Now, do we want to handle him outside or inside?” Fia asks.
“What difference does it make either way?” you ask, sincerely curious on that front.
“Inside, the djinn will likely feel he has more of an advantage,” Fia replies. “I can tell from the strength of his stink that he’s been in that shop for a long while now, and the way the yaksha spoke confirms it for me, too. He’s arrogant and he’ll be comfortable, whereas if you bring him outside, it may well make him feel more exposed when we enact the part of the plan where you,” she eyes you, “come into the picture.”
You and Moirine share a brief look.
“You think he’ll be more susceptible if he stays inside?” you ask.
“Aye, more likely than not,” Fia says. “Plus, if and when he figures out Moirine is a selkie, he would still feel comfortable inside because he knows WE know we can’t go damaging anything, lest we piss off the yaksha, and no one wants that to happen.”
“Fair enough,” Moirine says. “I guess keeping it inside is the wiser option, then.”
“Yeah,” you say. “If it means we can get the information better, I think so, too.” You glance back to Fia. “How do I come into this, though? If Moirine is pretending to be a normal human and she’s got him doing his thing… what do you want me to do?”
“Good question,” Moirine agrees, nodding.
Fia’s smirk doesn’t fade. “Simple enough, actually. Moirine, when the djinn is done rambling on as he does, accept his stupid little offer to be his Master, and then, you use the first ‘wish’ for something that would allow our friend here to show up.”
Moirine’s eyes light up with recognition. “Fia, you’re a bloody devil, love.”
You’re confused, though. “Wait, how…?”
“A djinn with a Master cannot take on a new Master, pup,” Moirine says. She smiles at you with a wicked glimmer in her eyes. “Meaning, whatever offers he makes me when I free him will be complete sharkshit, and by default, any promises or acts of granting my wishes would be sharkshit, too. He would effectively be breaking an extant djinn law if he were to sincerely grant a wish I were to make, you see, so he would likely use his magics to fake the wish I ask of him, provided it’s an easy enough wish to fake.”
Your eyes widen now as the recognition finally hits you. “Ohhh… I get it.” You look between the two selkie. “So then you’re tricking him in more than one ways if this works, aren’t you? You make him think you’ve accepted him, and then you ask him to grant a wish that he’ll pretend to grant… and then I show up to make it seem like it worked?”
“Exactly,” Fia says. “And if you wonder how you would be able to show up without him noticing, well, has Moirine told you about the abilities we true selkie possess?”
You nod.
“Did she tell you that our power of invisibility isn’t restricted purely to our bodies?”
Your eyes widen even more. “You mean…?”
“I can make you invisible,” Fia says. “You’d be hidden from view and from being sensed by that djinn. We need only wait for the proper moment for me to unveil you to him.”
“That is diabolical,” you say. You grin giddily. “And I kinda love it.”
“Payback’s a bitch, as humans say,” Moirine adds.
“The one thing you need to do is make sure that you word the wish properly,” Fia says to Moirine, before resuming her focus on you. “You know how it works, Moirine, but, for you, pup: djinn are tricksters when it comes to their wish-granting, especially when the djinn is obviously a piece of shite like this one. He’ll refuse if you word it in a way where you leave him any openings, and this little scheme falls apart if that happens.”
Moirine snorts. “I’ll handle it, Fia. I’m wise enough to not get caught up by a djinn.”
“What happens then?” you ask Fia.
Fia nods. “Obviously, seeing you in human form will bring an end to the ruse, but, the goal is to damage the djinn’s ego – he’ll be struck not only by being deceived by a selkie, yet also by the fact you’re back in his presence, in human form. From there, we simply have to get him to open up about the truth of this whole ordeal.”
“And since he’ll be breaking a rule of his own kin,” Moirine says, “then he’ll have an additional amount of pressure on him to spill, because he won’t have any way of hiding behind the truth of what he did. He might try, yet he’ll fail, and he’ll realize this, too.”
“Okay,” you say.
“I’ll enter the shop first,” Moirine says. “I’ll leave the door open for the two of you.”
Fia looks at you. ‘Let’s switch to telepathic communication for now, pup.’
You nod in understanding.
Moirine turns and heads toward the front door to the shop, and she opens it slowly and cautiously, as if she’s only just discovered the door for the first time – in fact, she opens it the way you did, only her movements are more reserved and tentative, besides her making sure to leave it open all the way for the you and Fia to follow after her.
‘How long should we wait?’ you ask.
‘A few minutes, at least,’ Fia replies. ‘She has to make a show of wandering around.’
‘Would the genie know she’s acting otherwise?’
Fia frowns. ‘No, it isn’t that. But, remember, he’s not actually bound to the lamp he’s resting in – it’s an act on his part. Ah.’ Her features flash with recognition. ‘You may not know this, but, djinn are privy to their surroundings even when in their Shard, pup. They can see and hear what goes on in their vicinity if they’re awake, so he would likely be half-watching Moirine the instant she steps foot into that shop, waiting for her.’
‘I didn’t know that, no,’ you say.
‘It’s better we let her pretend for a bit,’ Fia says.
Thus, you both stand there, waiting in relative silence. You can’t help but find it strange that you’re back where this all began, only in human form rather than as a selkie. You find equally odd to be gearing up to confront the djinn responsible for it, too, and you wonder what on earth his Master would’ve possibly wished for to cause this.
‘Are all djinn these kinds of… jerks like him?’ you ask.
Fia gives a soft sigh. ‘My fouler mood would want me to say they are, but, admittedly, the Seamother would not be pleased for me to be deceitful. In truth, no, the majority of djinn are… not as disagreeable as this one. I’ve met djinn who were perfectly polite and affable in how they acted, if still retaining their tricky ways. We’re just not one to be openly fond of djinn, pup. They’ve a troubled history as a species compared to others.’
You nod.
Another moment passes, and, Fia shifts her stance to face the open door.
‘Alright,’ Fia says. ‘I can sense that she’s gotten to the lamp. She’ll be freeing the bastard in mere seconds, and then it’s up to us going in whenever we want to.’
‘How did she know which lamp is the right one?’ you ask.
‘Through smell,’ Fia replies, pointing to her nose. ‘It’s not difficult to tell – there are, in truth, three different djinn inside the shop, yet all three are in separate rooms. There was a fourth one a while ago, yet he was found by a human that became his Master.’
‘When do we go in?’ you ask.
‘Would you rather we go in now and simply wait for the proper cue?’ Fia asks, meeting your gaze. ‘Or would you prefer we hold off on entering for a bit longer? If it helps,’ she offers a grin, ‘Moirine and I are communicating. I know what she thinks, thus I would know when the right time would be, regardless of your preference. Either one would work perfectly fine, it’s basically up to whether you want to make a dramatic entrance at the proper time, or, just to appear at random in front of the djinn. What do you think?’
Your lips purse and you look toward the open door to the shop.
Do you want to go in and simply wait until the right time? Or do you want to wait outside instead. You suppose the same result will happen, as Fia seems to be implying, but, you do still mull over the options. So, you think them over to see what feels the best.
Written by Hollowpages on 09 February 2022
