I am Jinn

Prisoner

     I had heard through my travels amongst the humans that corruption always began from the top and trickled downwards in society. If the head of the village was corrupt, the residents were soon to follow. I didn't believe that, or perhaps I didn't want to believe that. I had seen the worst the jinn had to offer in the form of Ityan and his followers. They came from a society where corruption was next to nonexistent. My father upheld our laws, even if it made him unpopular, but he never succumbed to corruption even when he had next to infinite power. 

     Zeus could be thanked for making me now believe that corruption came from the head and spread throughout  the body. He was behind the largest mass corruption of our kind I had  ever seen and heard of. An entire generation of jinn were born thinking they were gods, something that the jinn of yore would have called blatant blasphemy. I didn't have much time to dwell on the spiritual ramifications of my brother's action while being hauled to Olympus. Athena remained silent throughout our journey, only speaking once we arrived at our destination.

     I was tossed to the ground by my niece and managed to get to my knees, even in my bound state. Columns of rock and stone stood proudly, surrounding an open air theater of sorts at the top of Mt. Olympus. Thrones, twelve to be exact, lined the inner perimeter of the theater. Each throne was apparently carved from a single boulder, no joints or cracks could be seen where another stone may have been fitted. The technique used to form the thrones was jinn in origin and the craftsman had chiseled a different symbol at the backrest of each throne. Athena headed towards a throne with an owl symbol before settling down on it. 

     "Ah, the prodigal daughter returns. It seems Zeus is cross with someone today," A hauntingly familiar voice called out before a female jinni materialized onto a throne with a peacock feather as it's symbol. 

     "Why must you always be so patronizing, Hera?" Athena asked in irritation.

     Hera smirked and shrugged before shifting her attention towards me. Her expression shifted to one of surprise as she now studied me. She rose from her throne regally and made her way over to me before whispering angrily,

     "How?"

     I lunged at her without thinking, her last words to me playing through my mind. Had she recognized me? If that was the case, I would gladly take her down for walking away from me as I burned towards my death. Zeus had, in an essence, begged her for help and she had walked away because of Ityan. She was content with letting me die and at that moment, I wanted the woman to feel my pain. 

     Ares materialized out of nowhere and grabbed me before I could make contact with Hera. Her eyes showed confusion and anger while Ares growled before effortlessly tossing me towards a stone column. My body connected with the unforgiving monolith and caused me to crash to the cold ground in a heap. I fixed my gaze on Ares while he smirked before winking at me. 

     "Why did he lunge at me? Why have you brought such a thing here?" Hera asked furiously. "Is he another of your father's bastards?" 

     "Calm down, Mother. He's a raving lunatic. Father brought him here to be dealt with. Keeps yammering about jinn or some crap like that," Ares chuckled before settling down on a throne with the sword as it's symbol.  Hera inhaled quickly and turned towards me.

     "Who ARE you?" Hera asked in fury as she now approached me. 

     "Now, now, Mother. If anyone gets to have a piece of him, it'll be me first. Why don't you sit back down?" Ares began while pointing towards Hera's seat. 

     Hera had married my brother. She didn't know who I was either. I was a complete stranger to the ones I was raised around. Was this a gift or was this newfound change a curse? 

     "Did you clean up your mess, Ares?" Another female voice called out before settling down on a throne with a dove chiseled onto it. She was quite young, I noticed and attractive by jinn standards. She shared no similar traits with my niece or nephew and had an air of youth around her. This jinni was not related to me, I realized and wondered how she came to be a part of Zeus's corrupt family.

     "I did, Aphrodite. Don't know why father was so cross over the deaths of a few humans," Ares growled.

     "What did you do to my swords?!" A deep voice bellowed before a new male jinni appeared on the throne with an anvil etched on it. This jinni was unique. His fire seemed to be stuck between his Awakened and Dormant states. What was the word I was looking for when describing him in human words? Incomplete. He looked incomplete, as if trying to attain his final jinn form, but failing miserably at it.

     "The ugly one has arrived!" Ares chuckled before glancing at me to make sure I was staying put. 

     "I asked you a question!" The jinni roared before grabbing Ares and throwing him across the plain, causing the cocky jinni to crash against a pillar much like the one I was against.

     "Hephaestus, please-," Aphrodite began, but was cut off by the distorted jinni. 

     "Shut up, you harlot! I smithed two swords for Athena and this piss poor excuse of a god and they destroyed BOTH!" Hephaestus roared angrily. 

     "I destroyed them. Someone threatened my children with them," Zeus said plainly before appearing on his throne. His symbol was a lightening bolt, which was horrendously fitting. 

     "What gave you that right? I worked painstakingly on them. NONE of you have the ability to do what I do, to work with metals!" Hephaestus continued. 

     "Am I not your king? Am I not the king of the gods? How dare you challenge me? Go and sit down! Get up, Ares and bring me that one!" Zeus growled viciously before pointing towards me. Electricity crackled around my brother as his eyes connected with mine. 

     "My pleasure, Father," Ares smiled and dragged me towards Zeus. I didn't resist. I needed to hear my brother's logic. I needed to hear how the jinni I had admired as a child had become a corrupted tyrant.

     "Let me introduce myself," Zeus began before leaning forward so that both of us could be at eye-level. Ares pulled me onto my knees and gripped my shoulders to keep me in place. He was enjoying this and I was keeping score. Whenever I was given a chance, I would teach my arrogant nephew a lesson.

     "I know who you are, Zeus," I whispered simply.

     "Good. I will not repeat myself. Tell me what I need to know. Tell me how you became like that. Tell me all that and follow my commands and we should have no problem. You're a god, boy. Why act like a pauper?" Zeus smiled.

     "I didn't finish, Zeus," I whispered. My brother and the few jinni that were occupying their thrones seemed to come to attention. Athena rose from her throne and came closer to hear what I had to say, gliding over the empty thrones whose owners had not arrived yet.

     "You dare interrupt the King of Gods?" Ares growled before raising his hand to strike me, but Zeus held his hand up, stopping his son in his tracks. 

     "Speak, boy. Tell me what you think you know," Zeus commanded with a smirk. My brother was as patronizing as his children. I glanced at Hera and smiled before whispering, 

     "Your brother deserved what he got. One day you'll get the same."