What's In A Name?

Slaves don't have friends. Slaves don't have anything, not even names.

I wish...

Here we go again. Do this, genie, do that. What'd'ya need, Master? What's your deepest desire, Mistress?

I wish...

100,000 years, maybe longer, bouncing from one owner to the next. Maybe I had been someone before that, I don't really know. Genies have long memories, but thousands of years trapped tends to do funny things to the mind.

What would you wish for?

I don't want to say, but slaves don't get a choice. I expect mockery, laughter, not playing dumb. Though, maybe this boy isn't just pretending? What part of 'Master' did the kid not understand?

I'll set you free.

I'd be an idiot to believe it. Through malice or naivete, that promise will never be fulfilled. But I still decide to do my best, the kid's so sweet after all.

I wish to be a prince!

Easy enough, and so much fun! Oh, it feels great to use my powers again. And this agrabah is interesting. The kid and the princess sure look so cute together.

I need the third wish!

Of course you do, Master. Ah, but a youth like you could never understand. For all your struggles, you've been more free than most the people in the city. Why should you care for the fate of your Genie? It's what I'm built for after all.

And it could be worse, as I'm oh-so-quickly reminded of. I hate hurting people, hate taking over cities, but a slave doesn't get to say no.

Maybe the kid will still win? I hope so. If I'm going to spend thousands of years locked up again, I'd rather it be after a good wish.

I can barely look as I grant the monster's last demand. But, wait, he's just like me now. Almost, anyways; how long will it take him to forget his name?

Oh! The kid and the princess deserve each other. I might never be free, but at least I can help them find true love. It's not every day I get to do something good with my pow-

I wish you were free.

Wait, what?

Slaves don't have friends, but I'm not a slave anymore. I'm not entirely sure how to be free, so maybe I'll stick by the kid for a while, figure things out.

Genie... He grins. And when he says it, it doesn't sound like a title, a description of a certain sort of slave.

It sounds like a name. And maybe it is, maybe it's become one.

'Cause guess what, baby? I'm FREEEEE!!!