Lance wanted to turn around and cover Tina’s mouth, but his reaction time was no match for Tina’s eagerness to make her first wish.
“I wish the two of us could transform into our favorite mythical creatures any time we wanted!” Tina said happily.
“It is done, master!” The genie clapped.
Upon hearing the clap, Lance turned around, ready to berate Tina for playing around with possibly dangerous magical powers, but no words left his mouth as he started to feel a bit strange.
He initially couldn’t pinpoint what, but Lance later started to feel a bit of an itch on his right arm. In growing worry, Lance quickly threw his jacket on the couch and checked on what was happening to his body. He paused at what he saw.
A tattoo, there was a tattoo on his arm. Lance was baffled, he was never one to wear tattoos on his body. As much as he liked art, he never wanted to risk permanently scarring his skin just to show off pictures of skulls, guns, or whatever he browsed through metal magazines.
The tattoo was an illustration was a dragon, a massive blue serpentine dragon that resembled the artwork from East Asian mythology. Admittedly, Lance was awed at the amount of detail and care put in this tattoo but his mind was struggling to process how it got there in the first place.
But Tina’s voice gave out an easy answer.
“Lancy-Kins, look! I got a beautiful mermaid tattoo on my arm!” Tina squealed as she showed her left arm to Lance.
The tattoo was a picture of a blue-tailed mermaid with long blonde hair and various shells and jewels ornamenting its body. The mermaid seemed to be a perfect illustrated depiction of Tina. The girl’s eyes sparkled as she looked at Lance’s arm.
“Oh, but your dragon tattoo looks awesome! I love its markings and wings. It’s like a magical snake that can rule the clouds!” Tina said, sounding like a child describing an action figure to a parent.
Lance wasn’t having any of it and got straight to the point. “Tina, what did you do to me? I told you over and over to not mess with this stuff!”
“You said this wasn’t a fairy tale, so I decided to make one anyway!” Tina pouted.
Lance did a double take, his mind trying to process the logic of what she just said. It wasn’t until the two of them heard the genie’s voice that the two settled down.
“Lance. I think I should try to explain what I did to Tina’s wish.” The genie said calmly. “I gave you two the ability to transform into mythical creatures you’re fond of. I gave Tina the ability to turn into a mermaid any time she wanted since she loved them so much. As for you, Lance… I considered your personality to resemble a dragon more than anything.”
Lance opened his mouth to give a scathing reply but retracted his harsh words as he knew he was only going to prove the genie’s point further. Dragons were intimidating and fierce so, of course, the genie was going to turn a skeptic like him into one when she got the chance. He took a deep breath and spoke calmly.
“So, is there any reason you gave us tattoos? I mean, I kind of think they’re cool but they seem a bit… much.” Lance asked.
The genie chuckled “There used to be a young wizard who lived around here that could transform people into mythical animals for a fee. Every time he found a new customer, he marks an arm with a tattoo so the customer can remember what they could transform into. I liked his art style and decided to let his work live on with you both.”
Tina gasped in wonder. “Woah, that’s so cool!”
The genie nodded. “Indeed. You both can transform into your creatures at any time when you close your eyes and concentrate.” The genie looked at Lance. “But be very careful. I don’t want any grumpy dragons causing panic in your human world.”
Lance sighed. “All right, all right. I get it. I’ve seen enough transformation movies to know what happens next. I just want to go home already.”
Tina eagerly ran back to Damon’s apartment and grabbed the lamp from the coffee table. At this point, Lance knew it was pointless trying to fight with Tina over this.
As long as Tina was the genie’s master, Lance was under Tina’s mercy.
The genie disappeared as the two left the apartment and returned to the motorcycle.
“Don’t worry, Lancy-kins. Just relax and it will be so much fun! A mermaid and a dragon being together in a human world? That’s so cool!” Tina said with excitement.
Lance shrugged, not feeling in the mood to talk right now. His mind was filled with questions. How was going to deal with being a shapeshifter? What else is Tina going to wish for? Can he ever see Monica again? What else is out there in the world if mermaids, genies, and dragons exist? Is this even the only world?
These existential questions roamed around in the back of his mind, but the thought that made Lance really worried was how he was going to explain this whole situation to Alicia.