Destiny's Fool

Warnings: Jinn being a big fat childish meanie. :(

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Kit woke up, restless, wiggling away from Branret to get up and walk around a little. The blonde boy rubbed at tired eyes and stretched as he made his way down the hall. Something made him stop in front of Jinn’s door.

He knocked softly, then turned the knob.

“Jinn?” he asked softly.

The door was unlocked, so Kit opened it all the way and glanced in. Inside, the bed was totally undisturbed. The blonde-boy frowned, realizing that Jinn had never shown back up in his room, unless it was different now.

Kit scratched his head and pulled the door to, turning.

As he did, he gave a loud gasp as he ended up face to face with someone. He stumbled back into the door before he realized that it was Holy.

“Oh!” Kit sighed, “You scared me.”

Holy was watching him, silently. The boy was wearing some of Gate’s clothes and his hair was considerably shorter, meaning he had evened it sometime between when they fought with Scrape and now, it now hitting just below his chin.

“Y-your hair looks good,” Kit said timidly.

“I hate it when it’s short,” Holy said, “Gate likes it long, too.”

“Oh,” Kit said, looking at the ground, “Well, it looks good long, too. And it’s whatever you want, I suppose.”

“It’ll grow out pretty quickly,” Holy shrugged, “What are you doing up?”

“I couldn’t sleep,” Kit said. He stared at Holy, realizing that they were about the same height. Kit was possibly a little taller than he was.

“How old are you?” Holy asked.

“Sixteen,” Kit replied.

“Me too,” Holy replied. The whole time he was expressionless, looking over Kit. He tilted his head.

“Your clothes are strange,” Holy said.

Kit looked down at his blue jeans and his baby blue jersey, the number twenty-one across his chest, Kit’s lucky number.

“I’m not from this world,” Kit said.

“You’re dating that Katze boy?”

Kit nodded slowly. “His name is Branret,” Kit said.

“Gate said you were making out with the elf with the strange earrings and skin color,” Holy said.

“Ah…” Kit stared up at the ceiling, “I’m not really a willing participate when he does stuff like that. But I can’t always stop him…”

“Does your boyfriend know?” Holy asked.

“No…” Kit frowned. Was Holy going to tell Branret?

“Doesn’t that make you unfaithful?” Holy continued.

Kit scowled. “Look, Branret is my boyfriend and I love him,” Kit said, “Anything with Jinn on the side is because he can’t keep his hands to himself.”

“So do you like Jinn?” Holy prodded.

“No!” Kit snapped, “I don’t! He’s rude, cocky, inconsiderate, lecherous and he’s mean to my boyfriend. I thought I did at one time, but he’s never really been nice to me.”

“I love you, too.”

Kit’s body went tense, and he slowly looked at Jinn, who stood in the hallway, waiting for the boys to move so he could enter his room. Kit had no clue how to react. His face turned bright red for a moment, then paled a little.

“Move,” Jinn said coldly and shoved Kit, knocking him to the ground.

“Jinn!” Kit cried out, surprised. Jinn didn’t reply, just slammed the door after himself. Kit sat there a moment, at a total loss.

“You really shouldn’t exaggerate,” Holy said, frowning. He stood in front of Kit and leaned over, offering his hand. “I’m Holy. Your name is Kit, right?”

“Y-yeah…” Kit said, taking his hand and letting him help him up.

“I’m sorry for all the questions,” Holy said, smiling a little, a total turnaround from his earlier attitude, “I guess I expected you to be a horrible person.”

“You don’t think I am?” Kit asked, “After that?”

“After what?” Holy asked, “After you got emotional and said a few things you didn’t really mean about a person you didn’t know was standing nearby?”

Kit nodded slowly.

“No,” Holy shook his head.

“Um…” Kit glanced at Jinn’s door, but turned back to Holy, “So what are you and Gate going to do now?”

Holy looked thoughtful. “I’m not sure,” he replied, “We’ll have to go into hiding. There’s no way Melanie will allow us to live now that we’ve killed Scrape…”

“Um…” Kit rubbed the back of his head bashfully, “If you two wanted… I mean… You could come with us. And fight. Instead of having to run.”

Holy looked at him carefully. “Fight…” Holy said, “Fight Melanie? I suppose at one time that would have seemed stupid, but… I don’t know, I’ll talk to Gate about it.”

“All right,” Kit nodded.

“Good luck,” Holy said, nodding at the door and walking to his and Gate’s room, closing the door behind him.

“What a guy,” Kit sighed, “He never even said thank you for earlier… Though I guess I didn’t really do anything.”

Kit turned to Jinn’s door with a sigh. He knew he should make an effort to say something to Jinn, but he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to say.

He knocked softly on the door, then tried to knob. This time it was locked.

“Jinn…” Kit said, loud enough, he hoped, to be heard, “Jinn, I’m sorry…”

There was no response.

“Jinn…” Kit leaned his forehead against the door. “Please… I do like you. You just… do some things that I just really wish you wouldn’t do and I get angry. You’re my friend, so…”

Still no response.

“Jinn…” Kit started but fell silent, out of things to say.

Without warning, the door opened and Kit nearly fell in. Kit stumbled back to keep his balance and looked at Jinn who glared back. They met eyes and Kit saw that the movie in his eyes was totally gone now. Instead, his golden eyes were guarded and cold.

Kit dropped his gaze and saw that Jinn held his belongings with him.

“Jinn, where are you going?” Kit asked.

“Leaving,” Jinn said.

“What?!” Kit followed the elf as he started to walk, “Jinn, why?! Are you going for good? Jinn! Listen to me!”

“Yes, I’m going for good,” Jinn replied, “I’m tired of messing around with this child’s play crap and I’m going to look for a way home.”

“Jinn, wait!” Kit cried and tugged on his arm, “I’m really really sorry! Just don’t go! I’ll make it up to you! I’ll… I’ll figure out something, all right?”

“Forget it, Kit,” Jinn said, dragging the boy with him now.

“Please!” Kit cried.

Suddenly, Jinn whirled around, startling the blonde boy. “Tell me one thing, Kit,” Jinn said coldly, “Why is it I should stay here and be a bother to you, since I’m so cocky and rude, when you’re nothing but a cowardly, confused boy who has to depend on others to live? Why should I baby-sit a sixteen year old going on two who can’t walk unless someone’s holding his hand? If I’m mean and inconsiderate, than you’re selfish and weak.”

Kit stared at him for a long time, his throat tightening. Tears began to quietly spill down his face as he released Jinn’s arm.

“Yeah, Kit, that’s right, cry,” Jinn said, unmoved, “That’s your solution for everything isn’t it? Well let me tell you something—“

Before Jinn could tell him anything, Kit’s hand collided with Jinn’s face in a sharp slap. Jinn fell silent immediately, touching his face in surprise. The slap hadn’t really hurt. But the fact that Kit had hit him at all rendered him silent.

“I am sorry I’m not good enough for you,” Kit whispered, still crying, but an edge of hot anger underneath his tight voice.

Jinn stood there a moment, then raised his hand, backhanding Kit solidly. “I am too,” was his cold reply.

Kit gave a sharp cry and landed on the ground, wincing. Jinn’s slap had been much more powerful than Kit’s half-hearted one.

The blonde’s eyes looked up at Jinn. Along with the moisture of tears, there was genuine fear in his eyes as he backed away from Jinn.

Jinn snapped out of his cold fury, realizing what he’d done. “Kit, I…” Jinn started, but fell silent, thinking of no excuse that could clear him of what he’d done.

Kit continued to back away from Jinn, turning over and getting on his feet, running down the hall.

Jinn stared as Kit ran, running into a room and shutting the door. Running from Jinn, in fear. The elf turned, his head held low, walking from the inn.

He waited until he’d made it a good distance away from the inn, then slid down the wall, clutching the sides of his head.

“Why am I doing this?” his whispered to himself, “What is it I’m so… so fucking angry about? What’s wrong with me?!”

Suddenly, Jinn dug into his bag and pulled out a pocket knife, grabbing his tail and hacking at it with the blade in a hysterical fury. Each blow to the appendage was in a different spot in his blind anger, and when he finally stopped, the tail was a mess, bleeding all over.

Jinn wished desperately that somebody, anybody, would come to check on him. That they would ask him if he was all right.

No one came.

Meanwhile, Kit curled up in the floor of Jinn’s hotel room, sobbing uncontrollably; choosing the elf’s room because he knew it would be the only one that would be empty.

But, somehow, that only made him cry harder.

~:~

Kit didn’t sleep anymore. He had gotten up close to morning, anyway, so it wasn’t long before he heard his comrades in the hallways, getting their things together, preparing to leave.

He heard Branret’s voice and stood up, feeling stiff, walking out.

“Kit!” Branret cried and ran over, “Where have you been?! I was starting to get really worried!” As he said it, he tugged Kit close to him, holding him.

Kit closed his eyes. “I was looking for Jinn,” he said, supposing it wasn’t a lie.

“Where is he?” Branret asked, “We’re ready to go. Gate and Holy say that they’ll come with us. Isn’t that great?”

Kit nodded.

“Where’s Jinn, Kit?” Branret asked.

Kit started to answer, but he was interrupted.

“Right here,” Jinn’s voice said.

Branret and Kit looked up to see Jinn standing nearby, holding his things. He looked at normal as ever, except his eyes still seemed guarded and his tail was wrapped almost the entire length with bandages.

“What happened to your tail?” Branret asked with a blink.

“I tried to cast a spell to get rid of it,” Jinn lied, “And it backfired and put all these nasty cuts on the damn thing. Hurt like hell.”

“I’ll bet. You might have Rose take a look.”

“Maybe,” Jinn shrugged, “We gotta make some quick time, huh? Sorry I held everyone up. How far is the Flying Palace, anyway?”

“Not too far,” Branret replied, “But we still gotta make tracks. Melanie’s out of Commanders and down one of her infamous Guardians of Darkness.”

Gate walked over. “One down, nineteen to go,” he said, “The three to worry about, however, are Lorenz, Portay and… well… I suppose we don’t have to worry about Scrape any longer.”

“So we already beat one of the toughs,” Branret said, smiling.

“I think that was mostly because we caught him in an awkward moment,” Jinn said, “Killing your hostage is committing suicide. It makes whoever you’re facing off with very unpredictable.”

“You sound experienced,” Branret raised an eyebrow.

“I’ve been around,” Jinn replied, “We going?”

“Yeah,” Branret nodded, “Is it all right with you if Gate and Holy tag along? They’ll be useful, since they have inside knowledge.”

“I know the Flying Palace inside and out,” Gate nodded, “I should be able to provide some form of assistance.”

“I get Gate,” Jinn said, “but Holy… Well, is he tough enough to handle what we’re about to face?”

“I dunno, am I?” Holy asked from next to Jinn. Jinn turned and found one of Holy’s daggers at his throat. “I may be small but I’m a Commander. I can handle myself.” With that, he put up the blade.

“I suppose that settles that,” Jinn said.

“Jinn…” Kit said suddenly, “Is everything okay?”

Jinn’s eyes shifted to Kit and it was like watching glass break. The guarded look in his eyes shattered into one of pain and anger.

“I’m fine, Kit,” Jinn replied, blinking, the glass magically resurrected, “You need to worry about yourself. After all, you’re the destined one that we all rely on.”

Branret frowned. He hadn’t noticed Jinn’s eyes, but he did recognize the differences in behavior. “Are you sure you’re okay, Jinn?” he asked, “You do seem kinda… I dunno… Different.”

“Fine,” Jinn said and turned, walking off. He found his way to Desert Rose, who stood at the end of the hallway, waiting.

No one said anything more as they gathered their things. Jinn didn’t have the money to pay for the hotel room, but apparently Gate had plenty of coins to throw around, paying the tab for everyone.

“We need to discuss the future,” Gate said as they walked, “What is everyone’s place in our group?”

“Place?” Branret asked.

“In my suit, though I no longer have the right to call myself their Commander, things were made easier and more efficient if you play up everyone’s strengths,” Gate replied, “Some men were better at some positions than others.”

“Right,” Holy nodded, “No offense, but you guys have some major disorganization going on here.”

“Well,” Branret huffed, “Assign us, O wise ones.”

“Well, Kit is important,” Gate said, “But, admittedly, he’s the weakest one here. Through no fault of his own, I’ll add for his sake.”

“I’m not arguing,” Kit sighed.

“He makes up the core,” Gate said, “He’s the center. You put in the middle what you want to protect.”

“Okay, makes sense,” Branret nodded.

“Holy is better at defense than offense,” Gate said knowingly, “His position, if it’s all right, should be to provide a strong guard for Kit. In any fights we’re in, Holy’s job will to be to stay with Kit and to fight off any would-be attackers.”

“What about me?” Branret asked.

“You’re fast,” Gate said, “But you’re out of your element, which is the desert. That weakens you considerably. You’d do best, at this point, to cover those who are in the thick of fighting.”

Branret huffed.

“Desert Rose is a force to be reckoned with. She’s a solid wall, so she should be the one in the front lines,” Gate continued, “Her job would be to keep people from penetrating the core. Also to buy time for any spells that any of us would need to cast, or anything time consuming. I would be similar to her, since my powers are relatively physical.”

“Jinn has been the one doing that,” Branret mused.

“An understandable choice,” Gate nodded, “but Jinn is more valuable as a spell caster. Rose and I would be working together to give him time to cast higher level spells. Also, Jinn is too valuable to allow in the thick of things.”

“Valuable?” Jinn asked, glancing at him.

“He’s obviously become your leader,” Gate said, “He makes the decisions and everyone has learned to trust his judgment.”

“It’s true,” Rose said, “All of his ideas have worked and the times when he’s not listened to lead to disaster. I have no issues following him.”

Branret smiled and scratched the back of his head. “I don’t necessarily like the guy,” he shrugged, “But he knows what he’s doing. It’s better to just trust that and do what he says than argue with him.”

Jinn was silent.

“I wouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t for Jinn,” Kit said, “And for that, I’ll always remember him.”

“You’re all idiots,” Jinn said.

Everyone fell silent and looked at the elf.

“Idiots,” Jinn sighed, stopping. Everyone else took a few steps, then, realizing he paused, turned to him.

“Why do you say that, Jinn?” Holy asked.

Jinn was silent for a moment. “My only goal is to get out of this place,” Jinn said, “As soon as my tail is gone and I’m restored to full-power, I’m out of here.”

“If you’re as powerful as you say,” Rose commented, “You could put a stop to this with hardly any effort.”

“I could, but honestly, none of this is my business,” Jinn shrugged, “But for as long as I’m stuck here, I’m forced to call this place home. And no place I call home is going to be a place that I let prima donna half-goddesses run the show.”

“I said you were the leader,” Gate replied, “I didn’t say you weren’t selfish.”

“I am selfish,” Jinn replied, “And petty. I’m loose. I have illegitimate children across the galaxy. I’ve killed several people. I don’t very often bother to help others.”

“I could’ve guessed as much,” Rose shrugged.

“Yeah, like I said,” Branret replied, “I trust you. Doesn’t mean I like you or your lifestyle.”

“You guys don’t get it!” Jinn growled, “I’d be likely to double cross you if this Melanie bitch said she could get this goddamn tail off.”

“No you wouldn’t,” Holy said simply, “You have more self-respect than that.”

“Make Gate your leader!” Jinn shouted. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed but I’m not all there in the head.”

“They don’t trust me,” Gate replied, “It’s you they trust. Nothing will change that. I’m more of a tactics officer in our small army anyway.”

“I…” Jinn stared at the ground, “I’m going to walk ahead for a little while, make sure nothing dangerous is there.”

With that, he disappeared.

Kit sighed.

“What’s wrong with him?” Branret asked, frowning, “He’s upset about something, I can tell.”

“His self-confidence is running on half-full, that’s for sure,” Holy sighed, “I hope he gets it together soon.”

“He’s entitled to his breakdowns,” Rose said.

Kit was quiet, saying nothing. He knew what had happened. The only thing he didn’t know at this point was why Jinn had stayed. He’d said he was leaving, so why bother coming back?

Holy moved over until he was walking next to Kit, leaning over.

“You should go to him,” he said in Kit’s ear.

Kit glanced at him and shook his head. “He doesn’t want me to,” Kit whispered. “He hates me now.”

“Then why is he here?” Holy replied.

Kit paused and glanced at Holy. Holy smiled and nudged him.

“Um… I’m going to try and talk to Jinn,” Kit said out loud.

“I don’t know if you should walk ahead with just the two of you,” Branret frowned, “But I guess if anyone can talk him out of this mood…”

Kit smiled and darted ahead, running as fast as he could without exhausting himself. As soon as the others disappeared behind him, Jinn was visible just ahead. Kit sped up a bit until he was next to him.

“Jinn,” he said breathlessly.

“What?” Jinn asked.

Kit was quiet a moment. “Please tell me what’s wrong,” Kit said.

Jinn shook his head.

“Jinn,” Kit sighed, “Jinn, listen. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean half of what I said. I was just annoyed and afraid Holy would tell Branret about the stuff you and I have done…”

“Exaggerations have a basis of truth,” was the only thing Jinn said. “Aren’t you afraid I’m going to hit you?”

Kit paused. “What, you think I’m not still mad about that?” Kit asked, “I’m lucky it hasn’t bruised, because then I’d have to explain it to Branret.”

“Then why are you talking to me?” Jinn asked, “If you’re so damn mad.”

“Because I care about you right now,” Kit said, “And right now you’re upset. There will be time to be mad at you later, when you aren’t suffering. Now’s the time to worry about you.”

“Well don’t,” Jinn said, “It hurts too much for you to.”

“What does that mean, Jinn?” Kit asked helplessly.

“It means that I’m fucking still mad at you,” Jinn growled.

“What did I do?!” Kit asked, “What did I do that I haven’t already admitted I was wrong to do?! I said I was sorry for what I said! I really am, but I can’t change that now, so you either still like me or you don’t!”

“This has nothing to do with what a sixteen year old says about someone who drives them crazy,” Jinn replied.

“Then what?! Tell me what I’ve done!” Kit growled.

“You made me fucking fall in love with you!” Jinn said, suddenly stopping, facing him, “Isn’t that fucking enough?! You made me fall in love with you, and then you got together with that goddamn cat! And on top of that, you tell me how much you care about me and what a good friend I am and all that shit, when I don’t wanna be your fucking friend! Goddamnit, are you happy now?! I said it!”

Kit stopped and simply stared while he said all this.

“Jinn…” Kit said slowly, “I… I’m with Branret.”

“You don’t think I don’t know that?!” Jinn shouted, “You think I haven’t figured that one out?! You think I don’t see you everyday, holding hands, kissing, cuddling?! It’s all I can do not to rip out the poor bastard’s throat!”

“I didn’t know you felt this way!” Kit said, as though accusing him of something.

“I didn’t either!” Jinn shouted, “Because up to a point, I felt like I had you bagged! We were messing around and you were receptive to my feelings. At least it felt that way! Even while you called him your boyfriend, it was me that you seemed to have the relationship with! Until…”

“Until?” Kit asked.

“I didn’t know I loved you until you were crying and looking for someone to run to,” Jinn said, looking off bitterly, “And I opened my arms, ready to tell you how okay it would be and… You ran right by me to Branret. I didn’t know until I realized I couldn’t have you.”

“I’m sorry,” Kit said softly, “I’m sorry but I really do love Branret…”

“I know you do,” Jinn said.

“And I’m going to be with him,” Kit continued.

“I know,” Jinn whispered, closing his eyes.

“But I loved you first,” Kit said.

“I kn… what?”

Kit took a breath and stared at his feet. “I loved you before I loved him,” Kit whispered, “I mostly got together with Branret to make you jealous. And when it didn’t work, I just…figured you didn’t love me. But Branret was so… and you were just… and… I realized that Branret wasn’t just someone to make someone else jealous. I love him. And I love you. And he loves me. And you love me. So what am I supposed to do now?”

Jinn was quiet for a long time. “I fucking hate love,” Jinn muttered and continued to walk.

Kit just stayed where he was. Eventually the others caught up to him and Kit fell into step with them, leaning against Branret.

“How’d it go?” he asked.

“I think I made it worse,” Kit whispered.

“How’s that?” Branret asked sympathetically.

“Just couldn’t make up my mind about something,” Kit said and that’s all he would say.