1 Prologue: His Wish

The world was burning.

Shion ignored how his side stung from the burn a magician had inflicted on him earlier in the battle. He shakily got up onto his feet and stumbled towards a glinting object in the dirt.

His bare feet bled from walking on weapons and broken armor. He struggled to breathe as the essences of blood, skin, and smoke accompanied the air in his every breath. He stepped over bodies of enemies and comrades alike. He passed friends, family, and his lover. But he didn't stop. He didn't mourn. How could he when he had not the leisure nor time to do such extravagant things? It was war.

It was hell.

Shion was a king, a leader to countless people. They had looked upon him as if he was the next coming King Solomon himself. He was known as a wise ruler, a friend, a son, a dungeon captor, and a lover, but never did he think general, warrior, and murderer would be part of his list of labels.

The war had forced him to become those things.

The man forced himself to move his body to his last hope, ignoring everything else, since his comrades' sacrifices would be all for naught if he failed. Shaking hands picked up an old, dirt-covered object that was as common as a table or a chair:

A Lamp.

Shion rubbed the dirt off of the common object with what was left of his shirt. The symbol of Solomon glowed faintly when the residue was removed from the artifact. Shion sighed in relief when he saw that the lamp was still active. Time and time again, the lamp had been the object that had saved his life.

This time, it was going to save this world.

This cruel, flawed, bloody, selfish, beautiful world.

Through chapped lips, Shion rasped, "Andromalius, I summon thee."

As always, Andromalius answered his call. The djinn came forth from the lamp and faced his master with an impassive expression on his face. "O master, what do you wish for?" He asked Shion as he had always done in the past. Shion coughed and gave his djinn a sheepish smile. "I guess I couldn't save everyone."

The djinn raised his brow at his master's words but said nothing else in reply. Their interactions were always like this. The king would summon, the djinn would speak the same phrase, and the king would make a wish. End of interaction.

The young king chuckled at his djinn's antics. Even at their final moments, he was too prideful to converse with him. Shion took a shaky breath before saying his final wish.

"I wish to change this fate."