"Wow," Emma commented. "Sidney. You want a side of bacon with that whiskey?"
"You want to show this town who the Mayor really is? I can help."
"That's going to be kind of hard to do from inside her pocket."
"The Mayor and I are done."
"Sure you are," Jackie and Emma muttered.
"She got me fired from the paper. She made a fool of me in the election. So I started working on an exposé on the Mayor's office, and I found something she didn't want found."
"Sidney, you're drunk," Emma said. Go home -- sleep it off. Be grateful that you don't have to answer to her anymore."
Sidney pulled a business card from his pocket. "Call me. Storybrooke deserves to know the truth about her."
Emma took the business card and left. Jackie glanced at the business card and frowned.
ENCHANTED FOREST - PAST
The Genie sat in his lamp, looking at himself in a mirror. The lamp was furnished with several couches and cushions. Suddenly, breathing was heard from above. He looked up and saw an eye peering inside.
"Here we go," the Genie said as the lamp was picked up by King Leopold. He rubbed the lamp and the Genie was freed in a puff of smoke. "You awakened the Genie of Agrabah. You're entitled to three wishes – no more, no less. But you must know, that magic has its limits. You cannot wish for life nor death, you cannot wish for love, you cannot wish for more wishes. And once spoken, a wish cannot be undone – no matter what the consequences. So, tell me your first wish."
"Hm," King Leopold hummed. "Uh... Hm. I cannot think of a single thing I desire. I have everything I need. I seek nothing more than the happiness of all who set foot in my kingdom."
"Ugh." The Genie sat.
"You are in my kingdom and yet, you seem unhappy."
"I have served as Genie of the lamp for longer than you've been alive. Life as a Genie is not... as magical as it may appear."
"So, you wish to be free?"
"More than anything."
"Then, I know my first wish. I wish you to be free." The two armbands around the Genie's wrists release themselves.
"Can it be? Am I truly free?"
"You're the Genie – you tell me."
"There are two more wishes left in the lamp. What will you do with them?"
"For my second wish, I wish to give my third and final wish to you." King Leopold handed the lamp to the Genie.
"In my time, I have granted a thousand and one wishes and I have seen them end poorly a thousand and one times. Making a wish comes with a price. And that is why I will never use this wish."
"You are a man of wisdom, Genie. Now tell me – what will you do with your freedom?"
"Find the one thing I've always desired, that my prison has kept from me – true love."
"Then you must come join me at my palace. I am certain you will find it there. Come – meet my family." The two of them left together.
---
The Genie and King Leopold were walking through the palace gardens.
"Your palace is as lovely as you are kind," the Genie complimented.
YOU ARE READING
Legend
FantasySwashbuckling tales of pirates had always intrigued Jackie for as long as she could remember. Pirate ships had always piqued her interest. The sea always seemed to be calling her name. Little she knew. When the curse is broken in the small town of S...
