New readers, welcome. I highly suggest you turn around and read "Never Had a Friend Like Me" before you read this story. Otherwise you will be deeply, deeply, deeply confused about what in the world is going on. After you finish, come back and enjoy this story with a proper understanding about what happened to everyone.

Old and loyal readers, welcome back. This is what I promised you at the end of the first story. A sequel/side-story/spin-off type of thing! I know you're anxious to get started, but I better explain a few things.

First off, each chapter is set up like an episode of the show. This is all basically stuff I couldn't put in the first story for pacing reasons. They will vary in length depending on what a particular episode requires, but there won't be as many cliffhangers and there won't be a huge overall story arc that will lead to a climatic showdown to save the universe (that was in the last story). Most of the time everything will get reasonably wrapped up in a single chapter, though some might end up as longer and split between two chapters for convenience. There might also be some jumping around in the timeline if it becomes necessary, but I will always let you know when in the timeline a particular chapter takes place.

Second, I am not taking requests. I know you'll be tempted, but I already know what I plan to do for this. So if you start suggesting I put in a specific character, use a particular plot line, pair a specific couple together, or anything along that line, I will ignore it. If I coincidentally already have the same thing in mind, good for you. Otherwise, you're welcome to borrow my characters and concepts to write your ideas yourself (just give credit to me on what you borrow).

Third, and this goes back to the "no suggestions" part, I will not go through the newer episodes of the show and just insert Amanda into events. I refuse to do that. I prefer to be more creative than just copying stuff directly from episodes.

And fourth, I do not own "The Fairly Oddparents," their locations, their characters, or their concepts. Nor do I own "Beauty and the Beast," which inspired the title for this story. I did create Amanda, her parents, Tanda the genie, Daja the genie, Shadowville, and a few other bits and pieces that showed up in my last story. But you can always borrow them if you like. Just let me know so I can take a look too and give me credit.

All right, now that all of that is out of the way, time to get started. This is set before the final chapter of "Never Had a Friend Like Me," as will most of the other chapters. If you don't know why, then you're probably one of those new readers who didn't take my advice about going to read the prequel. And you definitely need that information because this take place not long after Chapter 33 and it really hits the ground running.

Tales as Old as Time

The sound of glass, his lamp, shattering filled his ears while pain hit hard. He couldn't move. He couldn't think. He could barely breathe. Panic and terror gripped him almost as hard as the agony that wracked his body.

Wave after wave of blinding pain flooded his body, each successive hit matching his racing heartbeat and each one worse than before. He couldn't think. He couldn't move. Every breath was short, tense, and labored pants that he could barely manage through the agony. Even worse was the exhaustion and coldness accompanying the pain with the more recent waves that washed over him. With every pulse of agony that wracked his poor body, the more Norm felt the newer symptoms. The only constant to the experience was the indescribable and unrelenting pain, the source from which the rest of it radiated out from, deep within his chest. And even with his mind overwhelmed by everything he was feeling, Norm knew what he was experiencing.

He was bleeding out. Not blood like a human might in a similar condition or any other visible life-sustaining material. No, what he was losing was nothing as obvious to the random observer. The genie was hemorrhaging magic at a deadly speed.

Death didn't come easily to magical creatures, but it could happen in certain situations. But the destruction of a genie's lamp was certainly an effective way to ensure it. They would lose their magic and their lives. And Norm's time was up.

There was still pain, still coldness, and still exhaustion, but now there was a numbness starting to settle in. It started with the tip of his smoky tail and his fingers, but it was speeding inwards. Norm didn't know whether to be grateful for the end of pain in those numbed areas or worried.

He was alone. Why? That was the worst part. He thought there should have been a voice. A presence. He didn't want to be alone as his magic and life poured out of his body. Somehow being alone made it far worse.

So tired. So cold and tired. Even with the spreading numbness, it still hurt. He just wanted it to stop. He couldn't focus. At least, not for very long and not easily. He was too tired, too utterly exhausted. His limbs were so heavy and numb, leaving the slowing waves of pain in his chest and head only. Everything felt slower, from his foggy mind to his heartbeat that matched the remaining flashes of agony. He just wanted it to stop, wanted it to end.

Then he felt it. He felt that last smidge of magic slip away. And the loss of magic let the numbness and darkness wash over him, destroying all that was left of Norm. He was plunged into empty silence.

"Gah!" he shouted, bolting upright from his hammock and clutching at his chest.

Norm felt himself gasping for air as his heart raced and his body shivered. Just a nightmare. A horrible nightmare, but just a nightmare nonetheless. He was fine. He was alive and unhurt. His magic wasn't bleeding away and leaving him dying. He was safe. It was just a nightmare. Trying to reassure himself of that very simple truth, his eyes scanned the interior of his lava lamp as if to prove that there was no threat.

Well, not his lava lamp. Or at least not his original lava lamp. It was a new one he'd created, incorporating a few glass shards from his old one to make it easier to locate if necessary. The fact he was in need of a new home in the first place was certainly the reason he was having nightmares.

His sleep wasn't being interrupted just by the horrors of his imagination. It was based on a memory. In fact, it was a memory from just a few days ago. Less than a week ago, he had been dying a horrible and agonizing death. His lamp was destroyed. Norm knew that he should be dead. Any other genie would have died. He even suspected that at least for a few seconds…

But he wasn't dead. And he was free. The reason he was alive was because she wished him free. And that was also why the nightmare wasn't completely true. He wasn't alone when it happened.

With his heart rate and breathing starting to slow down, the genie decided to get up and grab something to drink. It wasn't like he would be getting back to sleep anytime soon. He wrapped a blanket around his shoulders, purposefully ignoring the fact that his shivering had nothing to do with the cold, and headed towards his couch. A quick snap of the fingers and a glass of milk appeared with a gong.

There were some costs that came with freedom. He knew that he didn't quite have as much magic available for use anymore, but it wasn't that great a hindrance. He wouldn't be rewriting history, the major laws of the universe, or anything extremely huge anymore, but he still had enough magic for most of his requirements. A glass of milk was certainly no challenge. Besides, the benefits of his freedom were far greater and he'd wanted it for too long to complain. Not to mention that being freed at that exact moment saved his life.

He was happy to be free. He honestly was. Norm would be the first to admit that he'd wanted it for so long, just like every other genie in existence. Being freed from their lamp or bottle was the ultimate goal to aim for and almost none of them ever achieved it. He could go anywhere that he wanted or do whatever he might desire. And yet, he had absolutely no plans to leave. It was funny how much things could change within about half a year's time.

The genie took a sip of the milk, trying to banish the memory of pain, fear, and falling into silent darkness. It was in the past. It couldn't hurt him and it wouldn't happen again. There was nothing to fear. He silently reminded himself of that over and over until he was beginning to believe it. He knew it was dumb to worry about what happened, but the fear of death was hard to completely banish once exposed to the possibility.

So wrapped up with the nightmares lurking in the back of his mind, Norm almost missed it. The second time, he definitely heard it. Something was wrong. He could hear it from outside his lava lamp. And it banished any remaining sleepiness or chill from the nightmare as he quickly snapped his fingers with a gong.

He reappeared in her bedroom to a scene that he'd reenacted not that long ago himself. Amanda, his ex-master, was trapped in a nightmare. The brunette child was whimpering and flailing slighting within her cocoon of blankets. Her face was twisted into a look of pure misery that he just couldn't stand.

"Hey, kid," he whispered gently. "It's just a dream. It's all right."

"Norm," she whimpered. "No… no…"

"Shh…" said the genie, stroking the top of her head. "It's all right. I promise."

"No… stay with me… please."

He grimaced slightly. He didn't want to wake her up. Norm knew she'd wake up in tears, especially if she was dreaming about what he thought she was. He would have to hold her and reassure her for quite a while before she would calm down, but he would do it if necessary. He just wanted to find another alternative first. Besides, she might wake up screaming like he did and that would probably grab her parents' attention. And that would lead to them complaining about her and it would take all of his self-restraint not to banish them to Mars. He needed to find a less complicated option.

In theory, he could try adjusting her dreams with magic. It was theoretically possible, even without his past levels of power. But it wasn't a wish that came up often, so he wasn't very experienced with adjusting dreams in progress. He didn't want to experiment too much with Amanda's mind. Not to mention that messing with dreams and nightmares tended to involve getting a good look at the original version and his own subconscious was having enough trouble handling things without getting another angle of view regarding his near demise.

Reaching the limit of his creativity during the middle of the night, Norm simply reached out and scooped the child up. He held her close and started humming softly to her. He didn't think; he just started humming the first song that came to mind while he floated there with the girl in his arms. It was only after she started to calm down that he recognized the tune from his brief involvement with Fairy Idol. Of all the things he might use to comfort Amanda, "Gimme the Wand" wasn't the first one he'd ever consider.

But as he continued with the tune, her whimpers and movements died down and the expression on her face smoothed out. The girl remained asleep, but she was clearly slipping out of the nightmare that tried to plague her. Hopefully she would forget all about it by morning.

"It's all right," he murmured softly, though he wasn't certain if he was speaking to the sleeping child or himself. "We're all right. It's over."

Only after he was certain that she was completely out of danger from further nightmares did the genie carefully place her back on her bed. Norm then covered her back up and tucked her teddy bear back in with her. Then, after watching for a few more minutes just to be safe, the genie reluctantly decided to head back into his lamp to see if he could manage a few more hours of rest.

Yeah, I know this one was on the short side. But others should be longer. And funnier. I just wanted to deal with the fallout of what happened to Norm. Neither Amanda nor Norm would logically just shrug and get over it. So I wanted to deal with it.

I am uncertain when the next chapter/episode will be ready, but at least you get a little something with this characters again. Remember, reviews are always appreciated.