bits more information

"So," I say hesitantly, glancing over at Cal as we take our seats in my next class. The one before ended just a few minutes ago, and unfortunately for me, my brain was too preoccupied to actually pay proper attention.

And of course, the genie decided that being visible and planting his butt right next to mine was better than turning invisible and allowing me to focus.

Cal looks over at me, eyebrow raised. "What?" he asks, tilting his head to the side. Unlike the classes this morning, he's actually really silent from the moment I asked him to teleport me to my classes so that I could arrive on time. Which was bliss, don't get me wrong.

But it also has me wondering why he has nothing to say, all of a sudden. I mean, we just recieved an onslaught of new information (new for me, at least) a little while back, and he isn't forcing some new, stupid plans down my throat?

"About this Zeneddys dude," I say again, not really sure why I'm hesitant about even speaking. I mean, I should be screaming the genie's ears off just to get back at him, right? "You said you knew him, right?"

Cal's face goes smug with amusement, and at once I regret ever opening my mouth about the subject. "Is it just me, or is Kiama Kim interested in little ol' me for once?" he teases, blue eyes sparkling all of a sudden.

I roll my eyes, instantly regretting my decision to act on my curiosity. "Nope, never," I retaliate, refocusing my attention back to the front of the lecture hall. Currently, the lecturer is no where to be found, however, even though the class starts in three mimutes. "Forget I even opened my mouth."

Cal chuckles softly, his taunting amusement lingering in the air. "Too late for that," he says, resting his chin in his palm as he looks at me. "You've piqued my interest now, Mimi."

I sigh, feeling a bit defeated. "Fine, whatever. Just tell me about Zeneddys," I huff in frustration, trying to divert the subject. "Why is he important, and how does he connect to all of this? Also, considering the brooch back in the store was a fake, do you know where to find the real one? Do you even need the real one?"

Cal smirks, enjoying my exasperation. "Well, for starter's, Zeneddys was indeed a powerful entiro and the grandson of Erebus," he starts, tapping his chin as if this is just another gossip session or something. "And the original brooch was made from dark magic."

I raise an eyebrow. "So, it's like a magical relic with dark powers?" I ask, clarifying. "What did he even use it for."

Cal shakes his head a little, fosucing on a spot behind my head. "Oh, darling, so many things," he says, sounding like a grandparent telling their grandkids the misadventures of their day. "Of the different magic types, dark magic is definitely the strongest."

My eyes light with realisation, and I almost feel excited. "Wait, isn't that a good thing? The stronger the magic, the better your chances are of working around your malfunction or whatever, right?" I ask, almost tapping him with enthusiasm. But the less I come into contact with him, the better - despite the entire afternoon, we still don't know for certain what sets off the fire touch.

Lame name, I'm aware, but let's see you come up with something better.

Cal nods, expression displaying thought. "Exactly," he says, not looking me in the eyes still. "With enough dark magic, I could even grant more than one person's wish at a time, if I wanted to."

I frown. "Why would you want to do that?" I ask before I can stop myself. But then I realize that what I just asks sounds like care, and I don't care about the genie any more than I care about the newest member of faculty on campus. "You know what, do what you want. As long as you and this damn necklace skedaddle from my life for good after granting my wish, I'm fine."

"Aww," Cal says, engaging in eye contact with me again. His eyes still gleam blue. "And here I thought we were becoming inseparable friends."

"You wish," I scoff, opening my notebook to a new page. It's been three minutes since the start of class, and the lecture is still AWOL. "We are quite the opposite."

"Ah, no one has ever asked me what I wished before," Cal says, playful tone still in his voice. "How considerate of you, Mimi."

"Whatever," I mumble back, doodling something in the corner of my page. "But still, if dark magic can help, why aren't plotting a plan to get to it? The sooner we're done, the better, right?"

"Because, dearest Kiama," he says with a slight sigh, "if you knew anything else about magic and what it is exactly, you'd know that dark magic is illegal."

I jolt upright, looking Cal dead in the eyes with shock. "Illegal?" I gasp. "Like, some magical being can arrest you for using it?"

"More like some magical being can kill you for using it," he says, and although his words are dark, his face is still sauve.

"What?" I ask, maybe a little too loud. "What does that even mean, Cal?"

"Kiama, it's literally called dark magic," he says, shrugging. "I don't know why you're so surprised."

"How can you talk about being killed and look so damn clam about it," I hiss through my teeth, my eyes still very freaking wide. "Are you serious right now? Like, this is not okay!"

"You're the one who wanted to know," he says, a nonchalant expression on his face. "And since you could use with more educatiom on the matter of magic, I provided the information."

I allow my head to fall onto the desk, making a soft thumo once I come into contact with it. So many things to remember, so many hurdles stopping me from just having my wish granted.

If that could happen right now, all my issues would be solved, and I could tell my friends that a classmate and I just played an elaborate prank that got a little too out of hand and that I don't have a boyfriend and won't be having one for the next 500 years. Not if he's anything like Cal Monroe.

Too bad I can't wish for that, either. Maybe my life should just be titled: Kiama and the Broken Genie. If that were a movie, it'll definitely qinnall the awards.

Because of my character, of course & definitely not the a annoying, mean genie.

"Okay, so let me get this straight," I say, still resting my forehead on the desk. "You can't grant my wish because of some external glitch, and you the exact type of magic that caused said glitch to help you unlock the fault so that we can touch with burning and you can finally grant my wish?"

"Look at you, you can use your brain," Cal says, providing a fake clap that just further works on my nerves.

"Shut up, Cal," I grumble, mulling all these events over in my head a little. My mind drifts back to the pass-out dream I had, and what it all could possibly mean. "Do you think... do you think that maybe we can get a clue from my dreams?"

"Ding ding ding," Cal said, giving me finger guns. "That's exactly what I think. It's actually exactly what I thought when you first told me them earlier."

"Yeah, but you wanted me to just randomly pass out again," I say, giving him and incredulous look. "How am I supposed to know what you're thinking from a sentence like that?"

"Just goes to show that you don't know me as well as I thought you did," he says in a mock hurt voice, to which I obviously roll my eyes. Hard.

"I didn't even know you existed two days ago," I mumble in response. "How am is supposed to know you now?"

"That's besides the point," Cal says, waving a dismissive hand in the air. "The point is, you had a vision of Selene that might have been a memory. What we need to figure out is whose it is and what we can do with it."

"And maybe also why I'm having them in the first place?" I ask, sitting up straight. "Because having a pounding head and passing out all of a sudden isn't exactly fun, you know?"

"Oh, I've been there," Cal says, tilting his head to the side a bit.

"Really?" I ask quizzically.

"Yeah, after a few drinks I too tend to seemingly travel to another dimension," he answers, winking.

I groan in frustration. "Not the same," I say, although I wouldn't actually know for certain - I don't drink alcohol. But still, it begs the question... "Can genies even get drunk like people?"

"This one can," he says, adjusting himself in his seat. "And be loves to party from time to time. Which is long overdue for me at this point in time."

"How could you possibly be thinking about partying right now?" I ask, going back to doodling.

"Hey, hey, I'm allowed to look forward to fun, you know," Cal says with a scoff, as if I just uttered the most nonsensical comment ever. He should really listen to himself as well; he'd scoff more often.

"Whatever," I say. I galnce over at him through my peripheral vision, seeing his blue eyes trained on the desk in front of him. "Also, why did Jaeri say you're eyes are brown?"

"Because they are," he says, confusing me. "At least to everyone who isn't you."

I furrow my brows at Cal's response. "What, are you trying to say that they change colour or something like that?"

"Aren't you observant," he comments, a mysterious glint in his eyes. "Yes, my eyes change colour when I decide to wear my disguise, Mimi."

"Why don't they change with me, then?" I ask, looking at the azure orbs that are his eyes. They do look more and more magical the longer you stare.

"Because you're my Holder, duh," he answers, shrugging again. "Genies can't hide their magic from their Holders. Especially not in the presence of the necklace."

I glance down at the piece of jewellery still hanging from my neck. The dark blue stone manages to catch the glow of the florescent lights above us, shimmering even more so.

No matter how annoying Cal is, there's no denying how great the necklace he came from actually looks like. "So, what's the deal with this necklace in the first place," I ask, twirling it with my thumb and forefinger. "Why can't I take this off?"

"Well, little lady, that necklace is like my lamp," he says in a dull tone, like this is old knowledge. "And you don't have a choice in the manner of wearing it, because the moment I became bound to you, the magical bond was set."

All I do is nod, because that last part is technically speaking not new information to me. It's literally the reason I've been stuck with Jimin this entire damn day so far.

"So, when we finally figure out this wish stuff," I say, still doodling aimlessly, "you're just going to go back into the necklace? You said earlier that you weren't always bound to it?"

"No, I wasn't," Cal answers, dropping the playful facade a bit. "Until he bound me to it many, many years ago."

"He?" I ask, looking at him again. "Who's he?"

"Zeneddys, of course," he says without missing a beat.

I don't even have a chance to respond properly, because just then, the lecturer enters the venue. The echo of the door sounds throughout the lecture hall, making most of everyone's hushed convos come to a complete halt or silence.

Mainly because the person that just walked through the door isn't Professor Dienne who usually has us for Psychology 201. But a rather younger looking gentlemen, dressed in black from head to toe and long hair swept neatly just above his shoulders.

There's some laid back aura that surrounds him as he sets his stuff down and arranges something on the desk. After a second of fiddling with something, he picks up a whiteboard marker and turns his back to the rest of the class before writing something on the board.

In neat handwriting, it reads: Zeth Sonnen.

He turns back around, taking a step forward and resting his weight on the desk up front. Right next to his left arm is the remote to control the overhead projector, but based on the fact that he wrote in the board, I'm guessing he probably isn't going to use it.

His face doesn't give off a particular emotion. His eyes are half-lidded in a relaxed manner and his lips are pulled into a straight line. His gaze flickers over the class, looking at no one in particular.

"Good afternoon everyone," he greets, his voice loud without the use of a microphone. "My name is Zeth Sonnen, and I'll be your substitute for the next few days. Your professor, Sherley Dienne, has come down with a terrible case of the flu and as her long-time friend, I thought I'd do her a favour."

There's a small bout of murmurs that travel across the lecture hall, probably comments about the new lecturer, or hushed excitement about Dienne's absence. She's super strict, so very few people like her.

My eyes stay fixed on the substitute, though, because something about him seems awfully familiar, yet unfamiliar at the same time.

"If I'm not mistaken," he says again, opening a book in front of him, "you guys were busy with the Theories of Personalities, right?"

Some people give a hushed 'yes' in response, making Yoongi nod as he pages through the booklet that he brought with him.

"Okay, take out this thick chapters of yours and go to page 117," he commands, picking up a pencil from the desk and fiddling with it. If I wasn't focused as much on where I might or might not have seen him, I'd say that he looks like bored cat who doesn't really want to be here. "Today we're focusing on Carl Jung's Archetypes, namely the persona, the shadow, the anima/animus and the self."

"Boring," Cal whispers in my ear, making an effort to stretch his arms. "I've always been more of an Erikson guy myself."

I snap out of my little trance, looking back at the genie. Just like that, I remember what he said about Zeneddys, and my morbid curiosity starts to set in again.

I open my mouth, ready to ask him another thing about the matter, until I hear a shrill ringing hanging in the air. I wince, cupping my ear with my hand to try and stop it.

The ringing intensifies, causing the world's worst bout of tinnitus ivetever heard in my life. I almost cry out loud, that's how painful it is.

Cal doesn't pay me any notice whatsoever, and I can't decide whether I'm relieved or offended by that. Regardless, I turn back to the front, trying to block out this annoying damn sound.

When I do, however, I gasp at the sight. Because staring back at me is the substitute, Zeth Sonnen. And his eyes are glowing a golden glow.

The same way of the guy I bumped into earlier today.

***