Tales From the Cave-Wally and the Magic Lamp

Doubts

The sun shone over the marble-and-ivory palace, making it gleam as the new day was brought forth.  In the palace entrance, peacocks strutted and showed off their feathers, and flamingos dipped low towards into the sparkling pools placed outside the doors.  Leaning in the doorway, slumped and feeling low, was Wally, with one one thought on his mind.  "Me?  The King?"

He sighed, running a hand through his red hair as he walked back inside.  "They want to make me King?", he thought aloud.  When he had pictured winning back Artemis, he had never thought of this. He wandered into the main room if the palace, lost in his own thoughts. Sitting down on the piles of satin pillows, he released a heavy sigh as his hand fell to his side and rubbed against the lamp.

Wisp swirled out of the opening. "Greetings, Master. How may I serve..." She trailed off seeing the depressed Wally. "...you?" She floated down to sit beside him. "Something wrong?" Wally glanced at her sideways, then sighed heavily for what felt like the millionth time since he'd woken up this morning. "Well, the good news is, I finally got Artemis to choose me as her husband." Wisp smiled. "That's great! Isn't that what you wanted?"

"Well...yes.", Wally said. "But now they want to make me the King!" "Oh..." "When I imagined winning Artemis back, I didn't think I'd have to become the new ruler!" "Well, what did you expect?", Wisp asked. "I mean, she is a princess now, and the only child of the current monarch. She was obviously expected to take over for her father someday."

Wally shook his head.  "What am I gonna do?", he moped.  "I don't know the first thing about being a king!  What if there's some sort of war, and lots of people die, and everyone blames me?  Or, what if there's a famine, and I have to find a way to save everybody from starvation?  Or what if—"  Wisp held her hands up.  "Whoa, whoa, whoa!  Slow down!  Aren't you getting ahead of yourself?"

Wally shook his head.  "I can't help it.  I'm not a leader.  That's Kaldur and Robin.  I can't even lead the Team on a successful mission, let alone rule a kingdom."  Wisp smiled a little bit.  "But look what ypu've done!  You got into the Palace with your riches and treasures!  You overpowered Count Vertigo!  You won over the Princess and her father with your charms and your vast wealth!  You—"

"No!", Wally cried, jumping to his feet.  "I didn't do any of that!  You did!"  Wisp blinked twice, her eyes doubling in size.  "Me?"  "You gave me the riches and treasures!  You got me into the Palace!  You saved me from dying at Vertigo's hands!  The only reason I'm here today is you!  You got everyone to believe I was somebody important!"

Wisp stood up, hovering a few inches off the ground.  "You are somebody important."  "No!  No, I'm not!", Wally said, desperation in his voice.  "Prince William is important.  Prince William is the one they want as their King.  Without you...I'm just Wally."

Wisp was nearly speechless at his words. "Just Wally? Just Wally?! Is that what you think? That the boy you are on the inside is worth less than the person you're trying to be on the outside?" Her face was taking on a slight tint of red. Wally held his hands up in defense. "Whoa, whoa, no need for you to get upset!" "Oh, yes there is!", she said, her voice raised.

"I'm gonna let you in on a little secret!", she retorted. "I have had it up to here with your little masquerade! You're so fixated on having Artemis fall back in love with you, you don't care whether you're the same person she fell in love with in the first place! Is this really what you want? To spend your whole life putting up an act to please everybody else?!" Wally backed away, feeling a teeny bit intimidated. "Wisp, listen—"

"No, you listen!", she barked, pointing an accusing finger right at him. "If you think that's its me and my wishes that make you special, you need to get your head out of your butt and stop pretending to be someone you're not!" She held up two fingers. "The way I see it, you have two options. Either you man up and tell Artemis the truth about who you really are, or you can continue living a lie."

She shook her head, rubbing her temples with her fingers. "I'm out. Catch you on the flip side." Wally frowned. "Where are you going?" "Back in the lamp. Call me when you stop feeling sorry for yourself." And in a flash of pink light, she was gone.

Wally took the lamp off the cinch in his golden belt and sighed, running her words through his head like a recording. "Prince William!" He turned his head to see some make servants standing in the doorway with cloths of silk, satin and velvet. "Our Most Gracious King insists that we fit you for a new ensemble to be worn when he announces your betrothal to Princess Artemis."

Wally walked over and bowed a bit at the waist. "I do so humbly accept these generous gifts from His Majesty." The servants led him away to be fitted. His mind was on Wisp's little "pep talk". So lost was he in his own thoughts that he completely forgot about the brass lamp he had absentmindedly discarded onto the satin pillows.

Moments after he had left, a dark shadow emerged on the walls. Entering the room through a secret passageway was a strange looking feline, with black stripes on his orange fur, and eyes that glowed as red as the seeping blood of a warrior. It crept across the marble floors, unseen and unheard, and leapt onto the pile of cushioned divans without a sound. The evil cat's wicked red eyes zeroed in on the lamp, abandoned by it's owner. Walking towards the dull, barren tool, the cat took it's strong, thick handle into's his mouth, and scurried away back into the hidden door, the lamp clenched between it's jagged teeth, to deliver it to his master.