The darkness covering her vision melted away, her eye lids fluttered to life, taking in the white light which immediately flooded her vision. The smell of fresh flowers attacked her nose when she shifted her head on the pillow she laid on; red, blue flowers in an ashy vase sat on the table, moving from the unexpected hot wind which flew in spirals carrying green leaves and a tad bit of weeds.

She found familiarity in the room but at the same time she did not. She wondered if she had truly died and where she was, was the place people went to after they've been buried. She moved her leg in an attempt to sit up but she was pushed down mainly by two factors. Her whole body felt like death and the person with a weight ten times her own hindered her movements.

Stretching forth her neck which was a lot harder than she imagined, she looked to get a better view to the person weight down her legs and from the looks of it, the person looked human.

Daniel. His head was tucked into his elbows which were placed on her leg.

It looked like she had spoken his name out loud because, he quickly raised his head – she was sure she heard a snap in his veins and stared at her as if it was the first time, he had seen her. His posture was tense, stiff, he watched her like an inanimate object, clenching his fists on his laps. Zyca remembered the events, which still caused her to bleed inside. She remembered Colt and his atrocious revenge and how he had wanted her dead just to make her father feel the same way he felt – and come to think his family members were in on it. And she'd been stabbed.

The door ahead slid to an open to which her heart clenched. Her lips molded in a frown, her eyes blinked rapidly as her own did and her skin glittered just as she remembered.

"Allet!" Her voice was low and scratchy and out of tune like a broken flute. The pain which exploded all over did not keep her from jumping down her five-foot bed – although she fell down, smacking on the floor but she rose again, scrambling up with speed. She hit harshly the table harboring the flowers she smelt, sending the vase crashing down thus spilling its contents away with a splash but she didn't care, she wanted to cradle her sister in her arms.

She stumbled passed the other people who had come in which her, grabbing her sister until they merged bodies. Her skin felt soft under hers as millions of tears mated their clothes, leaving translucent stains like oil on paper. Their hiccups from their cries sounded in sync as Zyca patted down her back, from her glossy hair down to the center of her back.

"I'm so happy! You're here... you're here. How did you... I don't understand," Zyca's words came out like running water from a plastic tap.

Allet glanced at the smiling face of her mother before speaking. "I would like to know that too," her tiny voice started. "I didn't know where I was when I woke up. I was expecting to see you..."

"So, she cried like a little baby she is," Sarah pinched her cheeks.

Allet squealed. "Stop is mummy. I'm older than you think."

"Is that so," Sarah laughed.

Zyca loved it, she felt a piece chip back into place by seeing her sister once again. "Tell me. How did you do it?" she directed the question to her mother.

Sarah let go of Allet, who suddenly had her eyes on something behind her, then walked over to her bed and placed her hands into Daniel's who she had forgotten had been in the room.

"Daniel?" she spoke managing to stand on her feet although she stumbled a little but not enough to bring her down again. She glanced at her mother and back to him. He hadn't known his step mother was related to her, so it felt as if she were taking his mother away from him. "I'm sorry, I didn't know at first," she apologized faltering in her words.

To her surprise he smiled. It held no bitterness, the lines on his forehead were not put into stress but rather, his face brightened ten times more.

"You knew?" She couldn't help but ask.

"I told him."

She turned to her mother. She was curious.

So Sarah started telling her everything. For an hour or two, she spoke calmly after she laid back down on her bed with Allet by her side. She didn't want her far away from rich, so she held her close even though, her body ached from little actions.

"So you made him sleep?" She asked.

"Indeed. It came at first as a bad headache," he scrunched his face. It seemed as if it was worse than he portrayed. "Then she asked me to make a wish with the lamp – and before I forget," he said swatting and producing the golden lamp from a containment from under the bed. He gently placed it on her bed. "I was able to use this to come over to genie world..."

"But I didn't feel myself granting any wish," said Zyca prompting him as he paused. "And how were you able to communicate with him when you were unconscious and your powers how?" Her voice now going horse from all the talking she had been doing.

Instinctively she looked to her mother as she felt she was the one who could provide the right answers.

"Do you remember what I did when we were chased?" Sarah asked

She nodded. "Yes. You stopped and said something although I couldn't comprehend what you said."

Her mother hesitated for moment, her hands shook slightly. "Leaving a mark."

"What do you mean?"

Sarah took Zyca's hands which laid on her laps into hers, slowly caressing them as she stared in front of her. But not straight at her, she was looking beyond where they were, she was recalling something of the past. "You know as crystal protectors, we get to use the crystal's powers when there is a call for it - Delilah, Colt's older sister didn't die by your father's hands..."

"The crystal took her life!" Zyca completed, sitting up panicked. "You used the power of the crystal didn't you? To communicate with him and lent him some of your powers." To her terror, she confirmed it with a miserable expression.

"Are you going to die?" Daniel asked in distress and so did Allet adjusting. "Are you dying mummy?"

Zyca almost covered her sister's ears with her palms, she wasn't ready for the news to come and Daniel, he would be losing his mother twice. Oh, what about she? Heavens didn't her no favors either.

The clock on the wall ticked louder as the silence encompassed them, enveloping them like the mist at dawn. The leftover water from the vase which laid forgotten on the floor, dripped down the desk in a steady rhythm.

"Of course not," said Sarah breaking the silence. "Well, I'll certainly will if I dare use it again," she finished gently.

Relief flooded their hearts, warming their panicked minds which were on the verge of falling apart.

"So back to what I was saying. When I got Daniel here to come to the Genie world, I had him go to the higher up to report to them the dangers that lurks within their walls."

"Which I was very scared to do by the way," Daniel interrupted in a firm voice. "They were ready to throw me in the furnace of fire when they noticed I was not from their origin. If it wasn't for..."

His words were drowned when her attention was divided. White and blue tweeting birds, brilliant like the rays flew across her window, steadily flaunting their gallant wings as they soared through the very blue sky. Several flocks of birds she could see further higher formed half-finished triangles moving like a herd of sheep.

"W-when did the human world become this beautiful?" Zyca asked in a stunned voice. "This is something, I've ever seen in my life."

Her mother beamed. "Its home Zyca. It's the genie world," said Sarah quickly going over to the window plane. "The higher ups wanted everyone to live the way they used to," she turned back to them. "Including us greens."

"What! Why?"

"It was our decision to make," said a body of well-dressed genies who spoke in unison and looked alike. They were four, all blues, no greens and all males.

Zyca took a minute to stare at the intruders, their stance was one to be reckoned with and the strong aura they emitted clouded the air getting stronger and stronger as they drew closer. From the cutesy bow her mother gave, she knew who they were without a vocal telling.

Zyca gave a start and gazed uncertainly around, unable to keep her gaze on the one who could either make or break her. They were the all in all, the ones who bound their hands with cuffs, although, her cuffs were long gone.

"Hello Zyca," they said.

Zyca opened her mouth in horror. She looked to the left and right, and all eyes were on her, even little Allet who she was sure didn't know what was going on, just like she did.

"Um hello?"

Zyca was sure her mother must have felt her discomfort because she piped in just in time. "Higher ups," her mother said. "Do what do we owe this pleasure?" She laughed nervously.

"We would like some privacy," the higher ups spoke dimly. "You may leave, the three of you."

Rude and Scary.

"We'll be outside," Daniel whispered fanning her ear with his breath. He casted a curious glance at the higher up before he walked away, sliding the door with Allet and her mother in tow. She almost called them back.

"I'm sorry, I have no seat to offer," Zyca said attempting to straighten a rumpled area on the bed she laid. "You may sit here if you wish."

"We prefer to stand."

"Oh ok."

"First of all, we want to thank you Zyca," said the higher ups, their eyes twinkling in a way Zyca thought was creepy. "You have indeed proved to us the green genies are more than they seem."

"Thank you," Zyca smiled awkwardly, pressing her legs together.

"How was it? Going into the human world all alone and against orders."

Zyca was torn between answering their question or not. It could be a trick. She could not tell what they were thinking for they neither showed any form of emotion on their stony faces.

"I needed to prove my innocence and save the lives of my sister and the other greens," she finally said after many deliberations.

"Well-spoken but a very stupid thing to do. We as the heads of the genie world could have investigated till we found the truth ..."

"By torturing me with vile equipment's?" Zyca asked, speaking much louder than she intended. "I mean you would not have listened, I..."

"Very true. Very, very true indeed and we commend you for taking such actions," they said, inclining they head to get a better look at her, their hazel eyes scanning her fragile body. "It made us see, a person's mistake should not make a world. We had to make the decision on letting the greens move freely otherwise, the blues could have been cuffed and managed, which is definitely not what we want."

Assuredly, they could liberate their kind.

"So, we can use our powers now? I mean, I didn't get turned into a wild green."

"Most definitely and the greens now have the liberty of attending schools and being wish genies if they please."

A sudden thought lurked in her mind. She felt she had to ask.

"Higher ups," she started. "What happened to the Asters? And my father.... I fell unconscious...."

For the first time she saw their hard demeanor crack but they quickly fixed it up as soon as it came. "Naxeremis is back to where he belongs while the Asters and everyone who aided them are in a place where they belong – all in Laddendebt. Although we got not all."

"You didn't get everyone?" she asked thunderstruck.

"The one named Colt escaped our leash, a slippy one, that one. If it wasn't for our message ball, keeping an eye on them all, we wouldn't have gotten him in time."

Their message ball?

"Oh hi," the thing came out of thin air from the ground like a ghost ready to scare. Zyca jolted out of the way as it passed through the bed, floating in thin air like before.

"The thing!" She exclaimed. "When you came to me, you weren't telling me to run from the guards, were you?"

"Oh, I tried to tell you, many times but I kept stumbling on my words out of fear I might be caught. Oh, I tried and tried, even when you were living for the human world, I tried to say. Oh, I'm sorry."

"It's okay. As long as you tried," she said smiling sincerely.

"So that brings us to the reason why we are here." the higher ups pressed their lips. "We believe this our world needs someone different...." They continued in a level voice. "We want you Zyca, someone level headed. We want someone this world can relate to - as you can see, we don't look..."

"Nice. Happy, impolite?"

"That's enough." They cleared their throat. "You will join our team, to make sure everyone gets their adequate judgments. And do not worry, we will give you enough time to think about our offer," the higher ups went on.

"Oh, I hope you do accept," the thing echoed.

The higher ups stood for a moment, no air escaping from either of their lungs and finally they said.

"Let's leave the girl to think."

They cricked the door open and the three ease droppers, stumbled into the room

"Higher ups," her mother said hurriedly. "I can explain."

"You should be glad you still work for us," they said calmly. "Otherwise..." they sneered sinisterly leaving their words hanging in the air as they walked out with the thing closely behind."

"Are you going to take it?" Daniel asked a certain mixture of hurt and anger in his voice.

Of course Daniel, for a minute she had forgotten the little fling they had, the raised rate of her heart when he was a little close to her.

"Mum, can I please speak with Daniel."

Sarah let her eyes watch both of them. She nodded, and walked away again with Allet.

"Will there still be an us?"

She looked away for a second only to pull her shoulders back and raise her chin up and give a tight smile.

"You don't trust me, do you?" he spoke again this time, she saw a sad smile run across his face.

"I let myself fall because I was vulnerable, with Colt, with you. It caused me so much pain.

"I see and I understand."

"I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too."

They all stared at each other for long seconds before Daniel turned toward the door. Zyca got up.

"Daniel?"

He kept going.

"Daniel wait," she insisted, catching up to him and touching his arm.

He jerked away from her hold.

"Daniel stop," she tightened her hands, having a firm grip on his arm stepping in front of him.

There were tears in his eyes. She felt hers water up too.

He tried to side step, but she won't let him. He tried to go the other way but she blocked him again.

"I can't forgive myself, Zyca. I lost everything."

"I wish I could say it wasn't your fault but it is."

"I wish too I can turn things around."

And before she could think about what could happen, before she could remind herself that he tried to use her, she wrapped her arms around him.

"You have my permission."

"Permission for what?"

She drew back. "Writing. It's what you do best. Take it as a thank you for helping be back there."

Tears still hovered down the rim of his eyes.

"Thank you."

"And promise me you would forget me after. Promise me."

"What if I can't?"

"You will Dan," and the heavens knew she wanted to reach and place her lips on his. But that would only kill them further.

"Goodbye Zyca."

"Goodbye Daniel."

Till we meet again.

****

That was the last time I ever saw Zyca.

THE END