"Jinx…" Kid Flash felt the finger to his lips. She was so beautiful.
"Shh, I'm the one talking tonight. Thank you. For everything" And with that she wrapped her hand around his neck and pulled him into a passionate kiss, causing him to blink several times before wrapping his arms around her and melting into it himself. When he pulled back for air, she smiled sadly. "Now, I have to tell you one thing you may not like, before tonight is over. Is that ok?"
"Will you do that again?" He asked deviously. Jinx responded by pinning him to the ground, probing his mouth with her tongue while her fingers drew circles on his chest. Then, one hand began to glow, and a hex flew through him, paralyzing the speedster.
"I'm sorry." Jinx whispered, taking a small knife from her pocket. She cut two locks of her hair off, placed one in an envelope and sealed it, and lay the other, tied with a black ribbon, in Kid Flash's frozen hand. "Give the envelope to Raven, she'll explain everything." And she ran off into the night.
Kid Flash recovered his mobility an hour later, wondering if it was a dream. Until he felt the lock of hair in his hand. She was gone, really gone. The envelope. She said to give it to Raven. But, should he? Should he wait for Raven to tell him what she thought he needed to know? Or could he read it himself?
Kid Flash hesitated, he could read it, and if it told where Jinx was going reach her before she got far. But she wouldn't trust him anymore. He had to give it to Raven. So he walked, a slow trudge, back to the tower. "KF! What took you so long? How'd the date go? Where's Jinx?" Beast Boy bombarded him with questions.
"Is Raven here?" Beast Boy furrowed his eyebrows, confused by the seeming non sequitor. "She's watching a movie with Star, girls' night, why?" Kid Flash didn't give an answer, just ran to Starfire's room and knocked on the door.
"I told you already Beast Boy, we aren't leaving this room."
"Not BB, Raven. It's Kid Flash." Raven slid the door open two inches.
"What? I thought you were on a date with Jinx, and she's not here, even you can't be THAT fast." Kid Flash simply offered the envelope, which Raven took suspiciously.
"Where is she?"
"I-I don't know, she ran off."
"What, and you didn't follow her?"
"She…she hexed me while we were… ya know, kissing. She cut off some of her hair and gave it to me, and said to give you that, that you'd explain" Raven's expression became worried, and she hastily opened the note. She gasped at the lock of hair, and began to read the message, five pages long and written in runes, so Kid Flash likely wouldn't have understood anyways. She read it three times, to be sure it was real, and then three more to make sure she understood. "She's gone, Kid Flash. And she doesn't want to be found unless you understand what it entails." Raven seemed disappointed, even a bit depressed.
"Well, what about it, how do I get her back?"
"Jinx is going home. She's going to her grave."
"HER GRAVE! What, she's suicidal? How did I not know that?" Raven sighed in exasperation.
"Not like that, her symbolic grave. She's thought dead under her birth name. She's returning to show she is alive and renewing her vows."
"Vows? What vows?"
"You don't want to hear this, KF, you really don't." Raven opened the door so he could enter, and quickly whispered to Starfire for a few minutes. The two were in their PJ's, and Raven in a white bathrobe. Kid Flash felt out of place, almost dirty. Starfire gasped and made a few exclamations of disbelief, but soon nodded and came to sit beside him.
"She is, special, Kid Flash. Jinx has been more of a hero than we knew." Starfire began softly.
"What?"
"She was a hero of sorts from the beginning. She was, Raven, what would you call what she did?"
"She was my protector." Kid Flash was confused. What? "My guardian angel, if you like. I didn't realize it, but half the hoards of Hell and the armies of Heaven were trying to kill me from the time I joined the Titans until the defeat of my father. She, along with others she doesn't know the identities of, intercepted those who would have killed me, and defeated them. She fought angels. Angels, just so I could live."
"But, she was with the HIVE, and they're not, they aren't really!?"
"No, Kid Flash. The HIVE is a criminal organization. Jinx was a part of them for, her own reasons. Maybe to provide Raven with a challenge, maybe because she really wanted to be a criminal. She did seem to enjoy thwarting law enforcement."
"I don't get it! What does all this have to do with her leaving now?"
Raven sighed, this would not be easy, and it couldn't be. Telling him that she left because, because she loved him. That Jinx was bound to another life, and that a relationship was out of the question. It was difficult, knowing that Raven herself was a factor in Jinx's choice.
"She's a priestess, she's not allowed to love any but her gods."
"It may be that she is ceremonially married to the deity, as your Catholic nuns are, and feels her affections for you are taboo."
"I don't care about taboo!" Kid Flash was in hysterics, pacing circles that wore down the carpet of Starfire's room.
"Wallace West, get a hold of yourself." The use of his full name shocked Kid Flash into stopping.
"She cannot ask to be released from her vows, only a relative can ask her to be released into their care.The temple is her gaurdian, only her guardian can decide her marraige and chastity. And only the highest ranking priest in her sect may grant it."
"So she's going home to?"
"To see if any of her relations still live. For one last hope, even though she knows with near certainty that she is the last of her line." Starfire sadly chimed in, placing an arm around Kid Flash. "If none still live, she is bound by laws older than she dare break."
"There is no such law! Jinx doesn't care about laws; they're just limits on what a person can do! I know it!"
"Wally, she left a tiny loophole that we may be able to exploit. I can scry out any blood relatives she has using the lock of hair she left me, yours we're braiding into a ring and you will wear it 24/7."
"I have heard of this tradition, it is a common form of engagement from the European Middle ages, yes?" Starfire asked eagerly.
"A promise ring, yeah, to say you're spoken for as long as she lives. But traditionally she would have one of your hair as well, KF."
"Raven, Starfire, it's kinda… one in the morning, can I, maybe sleep on this so in the morning… later in the morning, I can discuss it with a clear… ish head?"
The girls nodded wisely and let him out.
"There are none, are there Raven?"
"None that I can see. I'll have to do a full scrying to be sure, but it's doubtful. But the real loophole is that it is never specified blood relatives."
"So, who might we use?"
"Her soul sister."
"Who is that?"
"I don't know. We have to find her. She would be someone who lives by her own rules; someone who was condemned by the situation of her birth. She will be reckless and loud, pushy and controlling. We need to find someone who refuses to be beaten, and, the biggest things on Jinx's list, fashion sense and sympathy for darkness."
"Komand'r!"
"Gesundheit."
"No, Raven, I mean my sister! Blackfire, Komand'r, she is perfect! I have been meaning to introduce them in the hopes Jinx's new found heroics would help set Blackfire on a course of rehabilitation, they are very much similar. In fact, I thought that they could become great friends, perhaps even becoming part of a team together! I shall call her at once!"
"Star, it's one in the morning. As your soul sister, I advise you to curb your enthusiasm so we can get to sleep."
To be continued.