Morro was thrown to the ground with not even a greeting. "Ow!" He rolled on his back. "What the hell, Nya!"

The woman slammed her boot on his chest. "My name is Delara," she said while Morro squirmed to free himself. "You would do well to remember that."

Once he had calmed own enough to think, Morro tried to put together what had happened. The woman was clearly Nya, wearing the same clothes he had just seen Nya in earlier, except that she had a different voice and was claiming to be someone else. Another ghost, he thought to himself. If the ninja hadn't insisted on putting him in vengestone cuffs, he might have had a chance of fighting her, but when did he have any luck?

"Sure," he said. "I don't think the ninja are going to take kindly to another ghost possessing another one of their friends."

Delara scoffed. "I am simply reclaiming what should have been mine from the beginning," she said.

"I did that, too. Didn't work out."

She smiled. "Your name is Morro, correct? First student of Master Wu, a general of the Cursed Realm… my, she doesn't have nice things to think about you."

"No shit," said Morro. "What do you want?"

"Dear Morro, what do you want?"

"Excuse me?"

Delara stepped off him and watched him get to his feet. "You are an ambitious young man," she said, "and you want for a life you never got to have. With the power of a djinn, I can grant your heart's desire."

Morro glared at her. "You're not serious," he said. "You're just a ghost, bound by the same laws I am."

"And you could break those laws, should you wish it so. What will it be?"

Morro rolled his eyes. "Sure, I'll play your game. How do I wish for something?"

Delara laughed and held out her hand. "Come with me, Master of Wind."

He only hesitated for a moment before he went with her.

---

"This is a teapot," Morro said. "You're telling me a teapot can grant wishes? Maybe that would explain Wu's whole deal, but–"

"Inside this teapot is a djinn prince," Delara said, holding the gold item close to her body. "He is the source of my power, and he is who will grant your wishes."

Outside the wooden hut, the waves crashed against the ruins of Stiix. Morro grimaced. "Sure, whatever," he said. "How many wishes do I get?"

Delara smiled. "Three. There are rules, of course. You may not wish for more wishes, you may not wish for death, and you may not wish for love."

He tilted his head. "I cannot wish for death. Can I wish for life?"

Her eyes twinkled. "Do you, Morro?"

Morro knew better than to trust a ghost or a djinn, and especially not a ghost with the power of a djinn–but if Delara had the power to bring him back to life, then he would be a fool to pass up that chance.

"Then I wish to be my own, healthy, living self."

Each word was chosen carefully. His own self, so the wish couldn't stick him in someone else's body and claim it fulfilled his desire. Healthy, so he wouldn't be resurrected and immediately succumb to the same poison that killed him before. And, of course, alive, with the ability to grow up and have a future and everything else he never got to have.

"Your wish is yours to keep," Delara said.

Morro thought he was pretty damn clever until the pain hit.

He gasped, a sensation he had forgotten, and doubled over, wrapping his arms around his newly-corporeal body. "Stop!" he shouted. "This isn't what I wished for!"

"Oh, I'm sorry," Delara said. "Did you not know? It is very, very painful to return to life. She crouched down next to him. "I could make it stop, though. Do you wish it away?"

Morro clenched his teeth hard. Stupid, stupid boy. He had been tricked again, like he should have known would happen. "Fuck you," he gasped. "I wish you would get out and stay out of Nya's body."

Delara's face fell into a scowl. "Very well," she said–and Nya's body toppled over, unconscious, while Delara got to her feet as a ghost.

Morro would have checked on her, but he already knew Nya didn't like him, and the pain worsened by the moment. He could feel every vein growing anew, every organ, every molecule, and it hurt. It took all his strength not to scream.

"You have one more wish, Morro," Delara said. "You never have to be hurt again, if that is your desire. What do you wish for?"

Dammit, he had been through worse than this. The cave, the Cursed Realm, the sea–Morro could barely move, but he reached for the communicator on Nya's wrist.

Delara stomped on his hand and he could no longer stay silent. "Foolish child," she said while Morro howled in pain. "The girl cares not for you. Do you think you will be welcomed back to your master with open arms? Wish it away, and you never have to face your failure again."

He couldn't endure it. "I wish," he said, hot tears pouring down his cheeks, "I wish–"

He didn't get to finish his sentence, because the door was kicked in. "What the hell?" Ronin said, pointing a water gun at Delara. "Nya? Morro? Holy shit–"

Delara glared down at him. "Another time," she said, and fled. She phased through the wall and vanished before Ronin could shoot water at her.

Nya woke when Ronin roused her. Morro managed to calm down enough to weep silently, trembling in pain. He barely noticed when the rest of the ninja arrived, barely understood Wu's attempts to soothe him–scalding hot tea was pressed to his lips, and as he drank it, his senses dulled until the world, mercifully, went dark.