Toto hops off of Rebekah's shoulder, landing in front of her. [i]"How should I approach this?"[/i] he wonders silently, [i]"Should I attempt to amaze or appear humble?"[/i] 

He opens his beak and answers in a deep voice, "My people have existed for time immemorial. We existed when your ancestors first thought to strike two rocks together, creating fire. We were there when your wars stopped being fought with spears and bows and began being fought by bombs that could level entire cities. We witnessed as you humans reached the next step of evolution and started developing amazing abilities such as powers of flight and strength to move mountains. We watched as your so called heroes were forced to reveal their identities and retire. We will be there when the last vestiges of 'normal' humans die out and are entirely replaced by metahumans. We will remain when metahumans discover that beings of such power can not coexist in such large numbers and eradicate themselves. I suppose what I'm attempting to say is that we were, we are, and we always will be. From the birth of your species, we have found you infinitely interesting. In order to better observe you, we decided to bind ourselves to human masters. We willingly made it our purpose to serve the most interesting human specimens we could find. Eventually, your people gave us the name, Djinn, and believed us to be a form of God's angels."

Toto stretches his wings before beginning to preen himself as he continues, "As for what I can do? I am aware of the stories of so called genies, so I assume you are wondering if I have certain rules and limitations? It is true that I am not all powerful. I am neither able to create life, nor take it away. I can not control the emotions of sentient beings. Most importantly, I can not use the vast majority of my abilities without first being asked by my master. Which is you, of course, my mistress. I have but one final warning to give you, Ms. Rebekah. Know that although I may not act without your permission in most cases, I reserve the right to decide not to act. The story of how I came to be here is a tale for a different time, I'm afraid. I suggest you make your way inside, young one. Your classes will start soon."