I am Jinn

Fear

     Human children have an innate sense of fear of the dark. It's not understood widely why, but parents have fashioned "night lights" for centuries to "protect" their young from the dark. This fear is from centuries of evolution. When humans were first brought to this earth, darkness was bothersome and frightening because danger seemed to lurk around the perimeter of light cast by fire. Dangers such as predators, pests, and even other humans. These fears have passed down through generations and now children and a few adults are uncomfortable with the dark. As I looked at Hera's paled complexion, I realized that these jinn had something they feared as well. They feared the light. They feared the truth.      

     "What did you say? My mother's brother? What, you think that the King of the Gods is my mother's brother as well?" Ares laughed while oblivious to the twin looks of surprise on his parents' faces. "We gods are all siblings in a sense, but my mother has no brother."

     "What did you do to Cronos and Rhea?" I asked quietly.

     "The gods banded together and vanquished them," Aphrodite answered in intrigue. "How do you not know of the Titans? Where are you from?" 

     "Is that what you've branded them as, as Titans?" I asked in disbelief. "Your parents, Zeus?"

     "What do you know of my parents? What do you know of the way they lived and died? I did what I had to," Zeus growled. "I don't even know why I'm explaining myself to you."

     "Your father was a good jinni. Your mother cherished you and you did what? You vanquished them?" I asked in anger. If I had blood, it would have been boiling. My brother killed my parents?

     "What you say is nonsense," Athena growled before approaching me. "How dare you corrupt the history of the gods? The Titans were cruel and ate their own children!"

     I looked at Zeus's "wise" child and laughed. Did she just say that our parents ate our young as if we were some animal? Surely this ridiculous accusation was said in jest, wasn't it? However, the look in her eye showed me that she truly believed the ridiculous tale.  

     "Child, you have no idea what your father has done or what is in store for him by his Creator for causing this mass perversion of our lifestyle. His parents ATE their children? Next you'll tell me you aren't made of a smokeless flame," I began with a smirk and turned my attention towards Zeus. "Did you think the jinn would forget what Ityan did? What YOU did, Zeus?"

     "Ity-how? H-HOW?!" Hera shrieked before grasping me by my collar. The patronizing and arrogant woman who seemed calm and composed was nowhere to be seen. Instead, an ugly woman with a distorted face and both fury and fear evident in her eyes now stood before me. 

     "He burned, Hera. He burned for his crimes," I whispered with a smirk only within earshot of my sister-in-law. This sadistic side of me was out of character, but something in me snapped when I heard of my brother's crimes towards my parents. I wanted Hera to be reminded that this began with her brother and that she was as big a part of this scenario as my brother was. 

     Hera shrieked wildly and flew at me. She grabbed me forcefully and flew towards the perimeter of the plain before Ares or Zeus could react. I had never seen Hera use any of her powers before or better yet, if she had used them I had forgotten about them. She was fast, faster than any jinni I had seen before. She could fly and she was strong. I was no match for her as she lifted me off my feet and hovered in the sky, a good hundred meters away from the other jinn. 

     "You will die. No one speaks of Ityan and lives," Hera whispered fiercely before letting me slip from her grip. 

     "HERA, NO! He can't fly!" Athena cried out before flying towards us, but was stopped by Ares. I felt gravity overtaking my body and watched as Hera, again, let me head towards my death. She sneered before flying back to her throne. 

     "Who are you to take things into your own hands?!" Zeus roared, a bolt of lightening in his hand as he approached Hera. 

      "Your wife," Hera smirked before sitting down.

     No other jinn made an attempt to save me as I plummeted to my death. I may have been an Enlightened jinni but I was not invincible. My brother had become a corrupted jinni who was surrounded by death. The brother that I had loved, that I had admired was nowhere to be seen anymore. Instead, a shell filled with evil had stood in front of me. The wind now whistled in my ear, screaming as I picked up even more speed. I made no sound, accepting my inevitable end. I was weak and succumbed to the same fate I had faced hundreds of years ago. With my eyes closed, I inhaled one last time, waiting for the impact that was destined to come.

     My body collided with something, but it wasn't the ground. I should have been a pancake, but I was moving horizontally? I opened my eyes a fraction and noticed that I was now zooming over an ocean at a speed my eyes could not keep up with. One second my feet were over water and the next, hitting solid ground. Whoever saved me had now dropped me on the ground to relative safety. My body rolled on the ground, leaving me on my back looking up at the sky. A smile played at my face as I thanked my Creator for another chance at life.

     "Oh smack that smirk off your damned face," a masculine voice growled before kicking  my side lightly. 

     I sat up quickly and looked at the jinni that had saved me. He was young, younger than Ares had been. His fire was normal, average, a simple Awakened jinni. His face was scrunched up as he kicked at small pebbles as if waiting for something. 

     "Who are you?" I asked and stood up. 

     "You know what? A thanks would be pretty decent right now. I should have let you turn into dust, but my mother told me that I had to bring you to her," the jinni snarled. 

     "No, I'm sorry. You're right. Thank you, truly. Uh-I'm Zrous," I introduced myself. 

     "Don't care. My mother said not to make friends with you. You stopped Ares. That was important," the jinni shrugged.

     "Denit, inside," a feminine voice called out from the mouth of a nearby cave. I hadn't noticed it. Technically, I hadn't seen my settings since being rescued. We were off the shore of an ocean, with caves lining the shore every few hundred meters. The largest cave had a female jinni standing at it's mouth. The young jinni, my savior, nodded and headed towards the cave before heading inside. The woman now turned her attention towards me. She smiled, a motherly smile, a smile I hadn't seen in centuries before saying,

     "Welcome, Zrous. Welcome to my home."