Chapter 6: That Ribbon of Skyway

"I swear that whirlwinds didn't used to be this hard to control," Buck said as he and Cassius plunged downwards towards the stunningly blue depths of the Mediterranean Sea below.

Cassius frowned. "Maybe it has something to do with the fact that your powers aren't the same as they were and you overestimated yourself." He quipped.

"Yeah, but a whirlwind is the fastest way to Jerusalem." Buck argued. In the dying light, it was difficult to see him properly. "And anyway, you have a cold. The minute you sneeze, your whirlwind would evaporate instantly! Besides, you're a novice."

Cas's frown deepened. "Maybe, but I know how to make a whirlwind."

"It'll be the size of a pincushion." Buck predicted sardonically.

Cassius scowled at his cousin and endeavoured to concentrate. "APOGEOTROPICAL!" He yelled into the rushing air around him, digging his heels into the wind and willing to control it.

Sure enough, a funnel of air whipped itself around the two djinn boys in a spiral, howling and snapping at their heels like a half-wild dog. Cassius poured every ounce of his somewhat muddled mind into controlling it. The wind quieted and blew them away, back on track to Jerusalem.

"Very funny." Buck groused, and Cassius looked over at him. Somehow he'd managed to be caught upside-down, and his aviator's jacket and knapsack were practically falling off his skinny shoulders. With a grunt, Buck flipped himself right-side up again, and pulled his beanie cap lower on his head, over his ears.

"So what did you think of Iblis Senior?" Cassius asked, to make conversation but also because he was genuinely curious.

Buck scoffed. "Every bit as dumb as the rest of the Ifrit. He probably got what was coming to him, honestly."

"Probably." Cassius agreed. "Though meeting him made me think a bit: if he's my grandfather on my mother's side, that means that God Himself is my other grandfather."

"Wait, really?" Buck thought for a moment, then burst out laughing. "No, you're right! Holy hell, that explains why you're Golden Boy, doesn't it?"

Cassius smiled wryly, pleased that he'd been able to make his cousin laugh. "Well, don't congratulate me quite yet. Dear old dad was a rebel, if you remember. A big boss-type demon."

Buck rolled his eyes. "More interesting than my mom. She and her dad were both djinn doctors, but mom took a more modern approach than Grandpa." Buck paused a minute, reflecting. "For a Marid, he sure was a mean old coot. I guess it's just because he knew who my real father was. Grandma helped mellow him out, though."

Cassius shrugged. "You should have seen how Holly's granddad reacted when he thought I was my father. Don't blame yourself."

"He tried to kill you, right?"

Cassius laughed, though his voice was tense enough to snap like a guitar string. "That he did. I probably would have died if Dimme hadn't shown up when she did. At least, I think she was the reason Dr. Godwin stopped. I couldn't really tell much and I blacked out pretty much immediately."

"Oh, well that makes you an expert." Buck rolled his eyes.

"You've never blacked out? Not even once?"

"Well... I've been knocked out a couple of times." Buck admitted sheepishly. "Fights and whatever."

Cassius looked out into the darkening sky pensively as they flew towards Jerusalem. "You ever wonder if all of this," He gestured vaguely at the dark around them, "Is nothing but the concoction of someone else's mind? Like we're just characters in someone's story?"

As if in response to this rather muddled musing, the whirlwind shook violently. Flailing for his life, Buck punched Cassius in the shoulder.

"Pay attention, Golden Boy, you're gonna get us both tossed to our deaths!" Buck yelled, a note of strangled panic cracking his voice. Cassius inhaled through his stuffy nose, a long, wheezing sort of noise, and tried to get his aching head to focus.

The whirlwind sprang to attention immediately, its stray threads spinning back together neatly. "So where exactly in Jerusalem are we going, anyway?" Cassius asked, his eyes watering with a half-formed sneeze.

"There's this church in the old city that has this pie-looking thing. We went there in February to try and track down someone to help her with that fever thing. I think it's called the Omphalos or something. Holly said that it's the place where djinn like us can talk to the immortal voice of Wisdom. She also said that she had tea with it."

Cassius' eyelids drooped. "Tea sounds good right now. Might help with my congestion..."

Buck punched him in the shoulder again. "Pay attention, wet wipe!" He ordered preemptively. "Didn't that levitator do anything?"

Cassius shrugged. "I can't really tell. It's been awhile since I was actually sick like this." He frowned. "Come to think of it, I don't think I've gotten sick since my wisdom teeth came in."

"And this is relevant how?" Buck asked, already feeling bored. "Let us down somewhere inconspicuous. I don't like people staring at me just because I'm a djinn."

"When did you get so self-conscious?" Cassius asked conversationally. "You don't really strike me as the shy kind of guy."

Buck looked away, into the twilight horizon. "You remember how I told you to call me Jonathan back when I was a ghost?" He asked carefully.

"Sorta. I don't know if it's the cold or whatever, but all my memories seem kinda fuzzy." Cassius confessed.

"Yeah, well, that was a stage name I used when I was thirteen. Jonathan Tarot. I was pretty much world-famous."

Cassius looked at his cousin curiously. "Yeah? Never heard of you. What did you do?"

Buck continued to avoid eye contact. "I was a street magician. A lousy one. It's the reason I lost my powers to begin with."

"You used your djinn powers for street magic?" Cassius asked, trying his best not to laugh. Luckily for him, laughter sounded more like haggard coughs, so Buck didn't notice.

"Yeah, it was stupid, but it's not like it was my idea to begin with. It was part of Iblis' shitty plan to screw with the world." Buck tried to ignore the angry tears welling up in his eyes, and he was quite grateful that Cassius also pretended to not notice them.

"Well then you can't exactly be held liable, can you?" Cassius asked comfortingly. Buck shook his head.

"I was the one who didn't see it coming. I was the one who insisted on those dumb Elvis jumpsuits, and I was the one who used my power all up. It might have been my shitty dad's plan, but I walked right into it."

"Yeah, well now he's gone and you're back. You got your powers and everything, and where's Iblis? Trapped in some tomb somewhere?" Cassius gave a curt laugh that surprised even him with its ruthlessness. "Screw Iblis. And the rest of those Teers. We're not like them."

Buck nodded. "You got a point, Golden Boy." He paused. "God's grandson." He grinned, teasingly.

Cassius swatted him away. "Ah, shut it, Tarot." He shot back, his laughter vanishing into more coughing. "Jerusalem is coming up, where should I let us down?"

Buck peered past Cassius into the night below that was littered with lights, like stars blinking below them.

"There, I think that's the old city." He pointed to a dark section of the city, then glanced sidelong at Cassius. "Are you alert enough to protect yourself from bombs and whatever?"

"Of course I am," Cassius said indignantly. "I'm flying this whirlwind, aren't I?"

"Yeah, and we've almost crash-landed twice." Buck reminded him, and sighed. "I guess I'll just have to pay extra attention and make sure you stick with me."

"What's that supposed to mean, I'm incompetent or something?" Cassius asked defensively, lowering the whirlwind bit by bit as they approached the dark Old City.

Buck, obnoxiously, didn't answer and instead remained silent as they achieved a touchdown silent enough to rival ninjas. Buck peered through the moonlit streets, searching for some sense of familiarity. "I... think it's this way..." He said uncertainly, creeping with a considerable amount of hesitation to the end of the alley they had landed in.

Cassius rolled his eyes and tugged his phone out of his pocket. "You're lucky I get international coverage," he muttered, and typed Jerusalem Omphalos into the search bar. Within moments, he had gotten directions to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It wasn't terribly far from where they were now.

"Buck," he hissed, "Buck I found it." He looked up. Buck was nowhere to be seen. "Oh, fantastic." Cassius griped aloud. "This is exactly what I needed."

He didn't notice the shadow detach itself from the wall and follow him down the alley as he hurried after Buck.


Author's Notes: So I've been on break for the past month and have gotten a grand total of four lines written since the semester ended, but I'm going back tomorrow and maybe, just maybe, I'll finish this monstrosity before Easter. Probably not, though. In other news, Grandpa God FTW. Thank you, that is all.

Read and review!

~Lucinda