[Juárez, Mexico] Consuelo en Los Deseos

Seamlessly, Aladdin had appeared on one of her couches, without a show or a sound. Alejandra liked that. Discreet and efficient. It was what her assassination attempt was supposed to be. Or could have been, if she had more of a plan than "walk in and melt him". It was clear to Alejandra now that her natural strength had also made her complacent, and that if she wanted to rise further in the world, she would be meeting more forces that not only could keep up with her, but rebuff her.

A flash of irritation appeared on her face at Aladdin's words, the woman almost wincing at the reminders, but it was quickly replaced by a more melancholy look. There was no point in snapping at anyone right now, especially not at a being like Aladdin. Her gaze lingered on the TV as the news report continued, the reporter's clear and concise Spanish cutting through the soft meditation music. She hadn't expected the Iceberg Lounge's destruction to make international headlines...

Alejandra set down her bottle of tequila and walked over to the bar again, sighing to herself as she inspected her collection, taking a few quiet moments to center herself. "Want a drink?" she offered Aladdin with a somewhat tired expression, but eyeing him with a certain glint in her eye. "So, I have a question. How would you kill me?" She let the question linger in the air before continuing. "Let's say I were after your life, and in this hypothetical scenario, could actually kill you. How would you stop me? Or kill me, if you wanted."

Alejandra listened intently as she selected a bottle of wine from the back of her private collection, a Château Lafite-Rothschild 1982, one of her first personal purchases after taking the position of La Jefa de la Juarez Cartel. The woman inspected the bottle for a few moments before shrugging and opening it with a soft *pop*, soon pouring two glasses, one for Aladdin and one for herself.

"Yes, that answered my question," she replied, a thoughtful expression on her face. She raised a glass. "To experience, the best teacher," she toasted before taking a deep sip, savoring the vintage "Mmmm..." Alejandra had considered someone trying to suffocate her before, so Aladdin's answer wasn't something new, but it did keep her weaknesses on the forefront of her mind.

She knew she wanted to cover her weaknesses, but still wasn't sure about the best way to go about it. She could always try to melt or smash most barriers created to cut her off from air, but magic wasn't something she knew how to interact with. She could always wish for magical talent, but would that very be the best way to spend a wish?

"I wish...I could burn without air," she eventually said aloud, after a long moment of thought and another sip of wine. She wasn't even certain if her wish would be granted; it felt like she were playing with physics, but then again, she had little experience with magic.

Alejandra set her wine glass aside as she watched Aladdin conjure something like fire and plasma in his hand, but not quite either. She had about a moment to appreciate how enchanting his lava looked before he pressed his hand against her chest. For Alejandra, the searing pain was immediate. "Ay, carajo! What, what did you-fuck!" cried Alejandra out in severe pain. Alejandra recoiled away from Aladdin, but the damage was done, the djinn having already imparted whatever he held in his hand into Alejandra's chest.

The inside of her chest felt like a roaring furnace, and she could see faint vapors of steam in her breaths. It had been a very long time since burning had been a painful feeling for Alejandra, and today was an very unpleasant reminder. She collapsed onto the floor, crumpling into herself, clutching at her arms as she endured the agony in her chest, saliva dripping from her mouth as she panted, eyes going bloodshot.

For a moment, she attempted to shift into her magma form to see if that would alleviate the pain, but-"AUGH!"-another anguished cry left her as she burst into flame for a moment before immediately reverting back. Excruciating pain shot from the top of her skull all the way through the tips of her toes when she tried to shift form. Animal-like yowls left her as she writhed on the floor, her bones audibly snapping and cracking as they broke down and reformed simultaneously. Her body was changing. Did that mean her mutation was changing? How much so? Would she still look the same afterwards?

Alejandra could hardly entertain these questions as she slowly dragged herself back up onto her feet, her eyes burning brightly, lava dripping down from her eyes as searing tears, a thick haze of heat emanating from her body. She knew one way she could immediately end this pain, but she wouldn't dare take it. It would be such a waste of a wish. No, this pain was a necessity.

Without a word to Aladdin, she sprinted out of the back of her house and immediately dove into the deep end of her very large infinity pool. An explosion followed by a loud hissing noise came from the pool shortly after, steam issuing up from the center of the pool as Alejandra momentarily shifted form underwater. Once again, the sheer pain of the attempting the transformation was still too much pain on her bones for her to maintain it.

For a few long moments, Alejandra merely floated underwater, eyes closed, trying to let the coolness of the pool water soothe her frayed nerves. Eventually, she surfaced, facing upwards towards the sky, floating along as steam occasionally issued from her body, her limbs half shifting occasionally in response to the agony she was holding inside of her. "This...better be worth it," she grumbled to no one in particular, wincing and groaning as she stared up at the sky.

As she floated in the pool, Alejandra's gaze flicked over to Aladdin as he spoke, the woman listening attentively as the djinn explained the changes to her. So her magma form didn't follow normal physics anymore... Did that mean she would still burn in a vacuum? Wanting to see for herself, Alejandra winced as she shifted only her hand into its magma state, watching her hand vaporize the water and create steam when submerged, but still glowing brightly, not getting extinguished. "It feels like my bones are hot irons... They feel like they're burning and tender at the same time... Transforming entirely feels too excruciating to complete..."

The water did nothing for the searing pain in her chest and bones, but provided some psychological comfort as she floated. This, floating uselessly in the pool, was better than staying inside and potentially risking burning her home down. At least being a halfway-magical creature connected to "primordial flame" sounded cool. She wondered about how much exactly she'd have to relearn, the woman not looking forward to the painful practice needed to get back to her former level of control.

At the mention of her last wish, Alejandra swam over to the edge of the pool where Aladdin sat, a resolute expression on her features. "Have you ever built an empire? Or run something like it?" she asked, betraying her ambition. "I can easily imagine you as an advisor to some of the world's greatest leaders..." commented Alejandra honestly. How else would one employ someone with lifetimes of experience?

Alejandra's gaze followed the flaming images, watching curiously as Aladdin spoke. She nodded at the mention of Aladdin the human, and arched a brow when Aladdin said that he worked for Napoleon, also surprised that Napoleon didn't use all three wishes. For a moment, Alejandra was almost childlike in her interest with the images of Aladdin's history.

Then, when that deep and powerful voice spoke, Alejandra shivered, and shrunk in onto herself on reflex, as though trying to make herself as small as possible. The voice was almost enough to completely distract her from the pain. Was this God? No, but whatever it was, it seemed close.

"Your aunt's death? Who, or what, was she? What could have possibly killed her?" asked Alejandra curiously. She didn't mind Aladdin's long answers.

As Alejandra listened, and looked up at the sky, she started feeling very small, and very fortunate. All the doubt from her first encounter had been burned away. Aladdin really was who he said he was, a powerful djinn of legend, related to forces incarnate that she could only barely fathom. Just playing around with this mystic being had already made her half-magical herself. She let out an amused chuckle. Aladdin was definitely no metahuman. There was no science for Alejandra here. Only sheer luck and ancient magic.

Alejandra, however, was very aware right now that she was just a mortal woman. A powerful mutant, yes. A successful businessperson, yes. But still so temporary and small compared to beings like Aladdin, like the Endless, like gods. It made a lot of sense to Alejandra that Napoleon let one wish remain while he was still alive. To Alejandra, having a knowledgeable, experienced, and powerful ally like Aladdin was well worth a wish in itself.

"Aladdin, child of Desire, nephew of Death and Despair. How many Endless are there? How does one meet one?" Trying to focus now on recuperating and talking, Alejandra slowly swam to one edge of the pool before swimming back, finding it painful to merely move. Aladdin was right; this painful transformation was a gradual process. She could feel it deep within her aching and burning bones. "I don't mind the tangents. Please, speak as long as you need."