She sat up in a panic, and couldn’t remember why. She was sitting on soft carpet, lush pillows strewn about, in a domed space she could nearly reach both sides of. Nearly. Then, she recoiled, gasping when she saw the Halloween costume she wore. The veil, the sash, the bracelets all pointed toward one thing. Her stomach dropped as she thought the word.

Genie.

She looked around her vessel. How had she gotten in here? Was she simply made here? Or had she been trapped? There was an answer in her mind, but it was packed and tucked away in a hidden space. Along, she realized, with her name. Her breaths started to come quickly, but heavy, as panic rose in her.

The Genie looked up, looked out, through the green tinted glass of the bottle. The world was more shadow than light, and the shadows moved in ways that suggested they bore little in common with what lay beyond them. How could she have guessed that if she hadn’t known what it was like on the outside. Suggesting she wasn’t simply made inside the bottle. That she had a life beyond it.

While most of the world appeared engulfed in smoke and haze, a shape strode. Indistinct, at first, it was a blobby shadow, then it gained an oval shape. Then more detailed shapes. It was the eyes that came into focus first, glistening, brilliant eyes tinted emerald. They focused on the Genie, and came closer, drawing more and more of a face in porous detail.

The world quaked. No, not the world, the bottle. But then, to the Genie, that was the same thing. She gasped at the rocking, falling to the ground.

“How fare thee, Genie?” The woman asked, something familiar in her face.

“I’m scared!” She said, on her knees, looking up and pleading to the strange woman. “Please, let—”

“I cannot hear you,” the woman said. “I know that cruelty all too well. But I know that you can hear me, my voice echoing like the gods inside your little prison.”

How? How could she know these things? The Genie wondered, trying to piece together what she knew, and had yet to know.

“I should thank you again,” the woman said, her eyes softening, “for releasing me. It is not fair that you should have to be trapped inside. But it is the law, set down by those spiteful wizards of the Old Creation. And we, you and I, are nothing if not obedient. You, of course, most of all.”

The woman’s words were helpful, though her answers were wrapped with more mysteries. But the Genie was piecing together her story. She had a lingering feeling, despite all of this, that she had done the right thing. She just wasn’t sure if she should feel good, or feel foolish about doing it.

Suddenly, the bottle shook, the woman’s face blurring with the motion, and it was all the Genie could do to keep from careening into a wall.

“But I do not want you to mistake my gratitude for kindness. You are mine to command, and it is yours to obey. Do not think to trick me, or trap me, or twist my wants and wishes. I have been where you are now. Inside. I know each and every twist of wish any mind could think of. I will have thought of, and done, every trick you try. If you do, I will see to it you serve no Masters, grant no wishes, and live no life. In the depths of the ocean will you linger, where no light, no god, may find you. Do you understand?”

The Genie nodded fiercely, hoping that the woman could see the motion with her invasive gaze.

“Good. I believe that you will work well for me, and for many Masters to come.” The bottle moved again, but this time, it was smooth and swift. The Genie did not see the woman’s face anymore, and the world had fallen back into haze and shadow. But she heard her voice still.

“I will fetch you when I have need of you. For now, though, I shall leave you where you are. Inside.”