Disclaimer: I do not own Black Butler/Kuroshitsuji or any of its characters. They belong to Yana Toboso.

The market was eerily quiet by the time Soma had reached the town centre, despite it only being midday. The prince looked around, puzzled over where everyone had gone. Usually the town centre was lined with brightly coloured tents and bustling crowds, with frantic shoppers and traders who relentlessly pursued the attention of onlookers. Today there were relatively few.

Had he been there, his eldest brother would probably have joked that nearly the entire town had somehow anticipated Soma's arrival and chosen that particular day to clear off. Soma didn't know whether to laugh or feel defensive at all the 'nobody likes you' jokes directed his way. It was true, no one at the palace spent time with him for very long…

He dismissed this idea with a shrug and skipped along with a smile. The usual social rules, whatever they were, didn't apply to him, for he was a prince and this meant everyone wanted to get closer to him. He stopped an elderly woman to ask where the townsfolk were hiding.

"Where the traders are, you ask?" The woman looked around before beckoning him closer. "They won't be out today. Not when there is an auction going on in the underground cave."

"You mean the one they call The Buried Cove?" Soma tilted his head, confused. He tried to remember what his father had said about the law on auctions. "Is it an unauthorised auction? Father says that authorised auctions are to be held in the marketplace on a stage above ground."

"Shh!" the woman hushed him. "It is their only chance to sell certain acquired goods! They are selling many unique riches in the cave. They are rumoured to be previously in the possession of a notorious pirate. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, if you have the money. And looking at you, you do look well-off, sir, if I may say so."

"I'm not interested in any riches they might be selling, especially not pirated goods," Soma said dismissively. "I am the Raja's twenty-sixth child after all."

"You're…" The old woman's jaw dropped. She quickly gave an awkward curtsey. "Highness, it is a pleasure to meet you. Fancy, a prince crossing my path!"

Soma smiled for a moment, before he remembered the problem at hand. He folded his arms and tried his best to imitate his father's authoritative voice.

"Unauthorised auctions are not allowed. I will have to alert the authorities."

"But sire, they are auctioning such wondrous things! Things a young man like yourself would be awed by! They say they are even selling a magic lamp."

Soma raised his eyebrows, interested.

"Magic? What does it do?"

"You will have to go to The Buried Cove to find out."

The woman put her hands on his shoulders and turned him in the direction of the cave. He felt her hand brush his hip as she released him. Soma gave in to his curiosity and headed in the direction she pointed him to, unaware that he had just been pickpocketed.

The cave was hidden away on the outskirts of town. Soma had only visited the cave once, when he was much younger and hadn't yet heard the story of the demons who dwelled deep underground inside of the cave. These demons had apparently eaten many an annoying younger brother… though now he was older, Soma was starting to think there was something a bit off about that story. Today, the mouth of the cave was curtained off by a black cloth, vast enough to be used as the sail of a pirate ship. A shudder crept down his spine. He took a gulp of breath and pulled back the cloth to enter the tunnel of the cave. Pirates or not, if they were breaking the law, he had to stop them.

Once he had climbed down the rocky downward tunnel of the cave, Soma could see his new company. The ground was crowded with people, most of them wearing scarves or turbans around their heads, which made them hard to identify from where he stood. No one seemed to notice him slip among the crowd; they were too busy whispering among themselves. A sudden pounding of a drum silenced them. Soma looked up to see, on the highest rock, two men, who wore expensive but well-worn clothing. They did not look to be of Indian ancestry, though it was hard to tell through their facial hair.

"And now, everyone, prepare to place your bids on what is possibly our finest treasure! This is the one you have all been waiting for, I'm sure."

An excited buzz of murmuring echoed around the cave. The man on the right of the makeshift stage reached into a brown sack and, with a hand gesture like a magician conjuring a spell, unveiled what looked like an unusual-looking teapot. Soma blinked.

"This is the magic lamp?" he whispered to himself.

It didn't look like much. The lamp, whilst pretty, looked to be old, yet not old enough to be antique and made of brass. The auctioneers couldn't have thought it was much either, as they were now tossing it to each other and trying to catch it with one hand.

"We know what you're all thinking. What is the big deal about a rusty old lamp? Well, it's not the lamp which is the interesting part. It is the magical properties of the lamp."

Soma folded his arms. Nothing stuck out as a lie to him more than the phrase 'magical properties'. He could attest to this from the fact that the last time he had heard the phrase was when he was told that wishing for something, whilst throwing a coin into a water fountain backwards, granted the wish, because of the magical properties of the fountain. Needless to say, Mina had not kissed him that day. That still didn't stop him from tossing a coin into the fountain every now and again, but that was beside the point.

"This lamp," continued the trader, "is home to a trapped spirit, who is bound to grant the wishes of its master. This creature will serve as your finest slave. It will follow your every command and use its magic powers to grant the impossible!"

The prince's chin perked up hopefully at these words, for a moment gazing up in awe at the lamp. This awe was soon replaced by queasiness, as an irrational part of him thought that if he were the creature in the lamp, he would be getting awfully dizzy from being tossed about like that; back and forth between two people, not able to settle with either of them, set to be given away for the highest price…

This gave him the final prompt to stand up and grant the bidders and dealers bitter disappointment.

"Stop this now!" he called out. Everyone turned round in puzzlement whilst he pushed through the crowd, towards the auctioneers. "This is an illegal auction that hasn't been authorised by the Raja of Bengal or his council!"

The look that the men on the 'stage' shot him made him want to back away, but he pressed through to join them on their level.

"Moreover, if there really is some kind of… thing inside there, should you really be handling it so thoughtlessly? Not to mention auctioning something with magic powers will lead to very bad karma!"

He tried to grab the lamp from the stunned auctioneer's hands. The bearded man growled indignantly and tried to wrestle it back, only to send it flying out of both of their hands and onto the ground. Soma jumped off the rock to retrieve it.

"Who even are you, brat?" snarled the auctioneer.

The lamp was coated in dust from falling on the ground. Soma polished it with his sleeve as he spoke.

"I'm the twenty-sixth child of the Raja of Bengal, Prince Soma Asman Kadar. And yes, I am authorised to call off your auction and have you charged for dubious dealings."

The men looked at each other, then faced the prince again with a pair of dark grins.

"A prince, you say?" The man closest to Soma cracked his knuckles. "I wonder… how much will your papa be willing to forfeit to us to get you back?"

"Probably nothing," Soma protested, as he tried to think of anything he could say to prevent being kidnapped by pirates. A second later, he realised that what he said was likely unfortunately true.

"Well, in that case…"

The grin twisted at the corner of the man's mouth. In that moment, he seized the seventeen-year-old around the middle.

"Who wants to take home a prince? Starting the bidding at one hundred…"

Soma struggled against him, pedalling his legs in an attempt to land a backwards kick. The bearded man was much larger and stronger than himself, however, and soon his struggling became futile. When he opened his mouth to cry out for help, his captor's accomplice covered his mouth with his hand. The man withdrew this hand a moment later, clutching it in his other.

"Careful, he bites."

This was met by some laughter. Half the crowd jeered and rowdily placed higher bets. The other half watched uncertainly, perhaps wondering if this was a joke, or thinking about bad karma. One thing Soma knew from their faces: it looked like no one was going to help him.

"Three hundred… three hundred and fifty… oh, four hundred from you, sir? Can anyone top four hundred?"

Soma closed his eyes and made a wish for someone to magically step in and save him.

"Five hundred!"

Then, for the first time, his wish came true.

Shouts of bewilderment filled the cave, as the lamp in Soma's hand shook and steamed bright blue smoke from its spout. It slipped from his grasp. All remaining lights in the cave dimmed. The auctioneer dropped the prince in alarm. Soma stumbled back and landed on the rock surface. He pushed himself up onto his palms and looked up in a confused daze.

What could only be a spirit stared back at him. He blinked at Soma with wide eyes.

Soma could guess this expression matched his own; an expression of not quite believing the other was there in front of him. The spirit rose from the open lid of the lamp. He wasn't human, but he bore far more resemblance to one than any other creature. Soma could only stare whilst the spirit swam through the air towards him. This mysterious being had the form of a young man, not a lot older than Soma himself, with long white hair that flowed behind him, as if he were underwater instead of on land. He had not an item of clothing on him, though beyond his torso, his body tapered out into a loose tail, the end of which was still embedded in the lamp.

"Master," the spirit whispered, whilst he pressed his palms together as if to pray.

Soma raised his eyebrows. If this being was now calling him his master, the prince must have inadvertently claimed ownership of the lamp. The spirit continued to watch him, in wait of an answer. Soma didn't know what to say.

"…Hey," he got out eventually.

"You wanted to stop them from selling me at auction. And now, you wish to stop them from selling you at auction," the spirit confirmed.

He had started matter-of-factly, but before he reached the end of his second sentence, his eyes shone as if they were about to spill over with tears. Soma watched him curiously. He hadn't thought much of what kind of personality a lamp-dwelling spirit would have, but he hadn't thought that one would be so… emotional, on first meeting.

"Such a good heart. I am humbled," the spirit continued in a trembling murmur. Then he unexpectedly raised his voice to a deep shout that nearly made Soma jump out of his skin. "Master, your wish is my command! I shall bring you to safety, then begin granting everything you'd like from me!"

The spirit turned to the surrounding crowd, who were gasping shock. He twisted on his tail further to face the auctioneers. The man who held Soma earlier pointed a shaking finger at the supernatural being.

"You're not real!" he shrieked. "You can't be real! We made you up to gain a higher profit from the lamp!"

The spirit glided nearer the frightened men. From the angle at which he hovered, Soma could not tell what sort of expression the spirit wore, but judging by their company's faces, it was not one to mock.

"Don't come any closer!" yelped the bearded man.

"I'm afraid I may only take orders from my master," the spirit stated, which prompted the pair to back away further.

"Stop! What even are you?" whimpered the second pirate.

The spirit narrowed his eyes before extending his right hand out in front of him, the base of his palm directed towards the back wall of the cave.

"I am the genie of the lamp," he declared. "And now, I shall wield my right hand for my new master."

With a ripple of his arm, blue light projected from his hand and formed a dome around everyone in the cave. Soma gaped at the light and reached out to touch it. His fingers could not penetrate the walls of the dome. He turned back to the genie, who maintained a look of absolute concentration, whilst his fingertips curled against his palm. More light emitted from his hand and spread to make the dome brighter, bolder, stronger, until the walls began to spread out towards the roof of the cave. The genie kept his arm steady whilst he carefully drifted back towards the prince.

"Master, please hold onto the lamp. In a moment, we shall make our departure."

Soma reached out and grabbed the handle of the lamp. The genie's spare hand closed around his new master's wrist. With one final thrust of his arm, the dome erupted and smashed through the cave walls. Shards of rock fell in slow motion around the crowd. The sudden reappearance of daylight made Soma squint. Before he could see the shocked faces of the auction gathering, however, he felt himself being lifted into the air.

He was suspended from a higher height than he had ever looked down from, yet with one hand enclosed around the lamp and the genie holding onto him, he didn't fear the fall. Soon, he was towed a safe distance from the destroyed cave and lowered back to the ground, to the edge of a deserted riverbank.

The genie released his hold on the prince's wrist. Soma's eyes adjusted to the sunlight and focused on his new companion, still half-expecting him to fade away and for reality to return.

"Master," the genie said tentatively. "I heard your name as 'Soma Asman Kadar'. Is that right, sir?"

"Oh… yes." Soma grinned. "Prince Soma Asman Kadar. And I had set out today in search of a sparring partner who can double as a servant."

The genie listened to him attentively. It seemed that he was completely serious about considering the prince his master. Soma considered him for a while. It was a big surprise to suddenly acquire this magical servant… but it was a happy surprise.

This genie seemed to be somehow just as awed by Soma as the prince was by him. That felt supernatural in itself.

"You seem quite powerful," Soma mused. "If I am now your master, that shall be your job!"

A slow smile came to the genie's face.

"Then I will serve you with all my power… my prince."