The next thing I knew I was standing in my room.
Except it wasn't my room. It only looked like it. The window was there, but behind it was nothing. My computer desk in the corner was there, but the computer was just an empty shell. The bed was there, but the covers and pillow were as hard as stone. I tried to recall what had happened... but nothing came to me.
I looked down at myself. I was myself, but something was different. It just, felt off, somehow. Like this is how it's been since the beginning but I just hadn't noticed. Had that Djinn done something to reality? No. I clearly remember a burst of magic being aimed directly at me. Was I dead? Was this the afterlife? Was I going to be stuck in this room for all eternity? There's nothing out the window, who's to say the door is any different?
I sat there. For a while. Just trying to figure out what was going on. In one hour, I had confirmed I was dead. In two, I had turned the room inside out trying to find a way back to life. In three, I destroyed the empty computer and bed in a fit or rage. In four, I had screamed for anyone, or anything, to help me. To bring me back. In five, I had cried my fill of tears for centuries. And by the sixth hour, I had given up. I had accepted that I was dead, and was ready to move on.
But then I felt something. Something I've never felt before. A strong, burning desire. Deep within my being. More powerful than anything I've ever felt before.
I don't want to die.
This feeling. It was a guide. A source. A tie to life. So long as I felt this feeling, I would not die. I had a person to protect. A reason to live on. And I would. Not. Fail. I was determined to succeed.
And with that, I opened my eyes.
The first thing I saw was Lena on top of me. The first thing I heard was the deep laugh of the Djinn.
"Fool. That is not the first time I've been attacked." The Djinn said. "But never the less it will be the last. He us dead now." And on cue, I jerked into an upright sitting position. This caused both the Djinn and Lena to retreat a few steps in shock. Giving me enough time to get my bearings.
I had apparently smacked into the wall and slid down to the floor. Par for the course when launched across the room. Looking at where I hit the wall, I either didn't hit it hard enough to dent it or the Djinn had magically fixed it. Noting these two things were all I could do. As the Djinn apparently has a easy time adjusting to surprises.
"How did you do that? That much magic should have erased you from existence."
"I have people to protect. Erasure is not going to stop me." You replied. Where all this confidence was coming from, you may never know. You could have sworn you felt faster, and stronger, and infinity more powerful.
"Is that so? Well let us see how you like another round then." With those words, the Djinn shot another blast of magic at me.
But I dodged it. It defied all logic. The magic was moving very quickly and I could only barely see it. But I dodged it. Safe to say, this also startled the Djinn. But I was more interested in what would happen to the stray attack. I watch the magic hit the wall behind me...
And dissipate. Thank goodness it didn't just erase the apartment. That would have been bad.
"You missed." I say. Almost as if this kind of thing happens every day. This made the Djinn furious. Not at any time in all of the millions of years in his life had someone been so rude as to not be erased.
I used this delay to my advantage. I grabbed a knife from the coffee table and charged him. This time the attack landed a hit. Right where a human's heart would be. Turns out Djinn biology is very similar to human. He collapsed, his blue blood soaking into the carpet.
Only later would I realize the knife I had stabbed him with didn't exist until I reach for it. But at the moment, I had more pressing concerns. I just stabbed a being with power over all reality. After he failed to kill me.
I watched with little emotion as the body faded away. Unable to comprehend the gravity of what I had just done.
This is what happens. When a being of great power edits reality, the change lives as they live. Since most of these changes are made by immortal beings, the change lasts forever. But if a person were to kill the immortal, they would be killing every change they made too. Now I got very lucky. This Djinn had been in his lamp sleeping for thousands of years. Didn't really get the chance to change much. But an event like this, the killing of an immortal, is bound to attract attention. Who know what will come knocking on that door?