*Iblîs* Taking A Break From The War.

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So here she was. Outside. The War Of Knowledge was kind of...tiring. She wasn't so far away from where it was all happening, in a patch of land alone. The stars were out and shining brightly, and the cool night air didn't bother her.

Crystal liked wars, but she needed some time away from Time Lords and Jinns and...well, everything there. It was giving her a slight headache.

Her hair was tied back in a neat ponytail, dotted with purple streaks. Crystal was sitting cross-legged in the patch of land, thinking. She'd been asking around a lot recently.

Apparently an Ifrit (whose name escaped her right now) has let two Jinn who were in - Crystal wrinkled her nose - love, see each other. Then apparently it had been something the Head had wanted. This kind of confused Crystal, but she wasn't one to question.

She didn't hear anyone behind her, since she was so caught up in her thoughts.[/size]

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Frigid weather marred the dimension that the Jinn lived in. The snow was beautiful when observed casually from a distance, but Iblîs found himself not particularly enjoying the scenery. The snow crunched under his human form’s feet and his breath froze as it escaped from him. He had been outside many times since the Jinn were banished from Earth and sent to the frozen wasteland where they had built the Council’s building – the only structure on the planet. Those times had been in his true form, the small bundled mass of energy.

The weather served his purpose. Any escaping organisms subjected to the weather would immediately die. It was only a few degrees hotter than the atmosphere found in deep space. True zero. Perhaps the only creatures that could survive were the ones made from energy – the Nothing and the Jinn.

So why, it may be asked, was the Head of the Council traipsing around the snowy landscape of the Jinn’s dimension? Despite what may be said about him, he cared for his brothers and sisters. If he didn’t, he certainly wouldn’t have kidnapped the Lords of Time and risked his own life capturing the Nothing. He had nothing to gain from eradicating Solomon the time line. Without the slavery of the Jinn, there would be no Council. He would lose the title, and perhaps a fair bit of respect from his family, but he didn’t mind so long as they were safe.

Iblîs stared at the form of the Djinn and huffed slightly. His mouth was mostly covered from his scarf. His toboggan covered his hair and ears, and the mittens on his hands kept his fingers relatively warm. He stood in front of the Djinn – Crystal. She was several million years younger than him; that made her one of the oldest jinn. The other Jinn who were closer in age to him were murdered by the humans… including the founders of the Jinn, the Drevnemi.

“Are you out of your mind?” Iblîs asked politely, his voice slightly muffled due to the scarf.

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At the sound of the Head's voice, Crystal looked up at him. He was certainly well wrapped up. Crystal, honestly, couldn't feel the cold, which explained why she was simply wearing a jacket, human jeans and a top, with trainers. Nothing more than that. She shrugged a little.

"Maybe." came her reply. "I don't really think about it." she added as an afterthought. After a few moments of silence. "Care to join me, or are you going to go back inside? she asked.

Crystal didn't really mind, either way. She could use the company, but she knew he had a lot of work to do. So it suited her both ways. [/size]

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“Maybe,” the younger Djinn replied, looking up at him. Iblîs stared down at her, an eyebrow raising in question. “I don’t really think about it,” she elaborated. He shrugged his thin shoulders as a mute response. He was certain that not being able to feel the chill was indicative of several physiological malfunctions, but he remained silent on the matter. His energy vibrated, warming him up. He concentrated the energy to the tips of his fingers and nose, the coldest parts of his body.

He looked up at the sky, looking at the stars quietly. When he was still on Earth, he and one of the Drevnemi would look up at the clouds and stars together. And then the humans came along, and they labelled him as Satan for his refusal to bow to them. Well, if he were to be Satan, then he would give them something to fear.

The Head of the Council looked back down to the Ifrit as she began to speak again. “Care to join me, or are you going to go back inside?”[/i][/color]

Iblîs cast a glance over his shoulder to the Council’s building and sat down beside Crystal. “I should thank you for being loyal,” he said, staring up at the stars and hugging his knees to his chest. “But I know you didn’t do it for me.”[/size]

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Crystal's eyebrows raised a bit. "Of course I did it for you. Why else would I have done it?'' she said pointedly, looking at him and then back up at the stars.

She knew they were just gas, but they were very pretty, from here especially. On Earth, that had been a favorite thing of hers to do, just sit and look up at the stars, while she was away from the Jinn.

It, in a way, made her feel better when she was missing them. Crystal may always act like she was mean and cruel, but she cared deeply for her family, no matter how much they didn't know.[/size]

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His lips twitched a little, unsure whether he was going to smile or frown. “Of course I did it for you. Why else would I have done it?”[/i][/color] she asked, looking at him and then at the stars. The Head of the Council stared up at them. She seemed to be fascinated by the giant balls made from gas. He’d never understood the concept of beauty – not the way that most creatures understood it. The Drevnemi had always tried to teach him, recognizing his dangerous behavior even while he was little more than a few days old.

“For our family,” Iblîs replied quietly. “For a fascination with war. Perhaps for me,” he said pensively, “But not only for me.” He ran the mittens through the snow, picking up a ball and packing it together. He put it back on the ground, sighing. “Everyone has different motives. It’s nothing to deny,” the Head of the Council said mildly. “It’s natural.”

Iblîs watched her studiously. “You think the stars are beautiful?” he questioned. “The Drevnemi said that we Jinn are the most beautiful creatures in existence… we were born of fire. It isn’t natural to be banished on a world of ice,” the Head frowned.[/size]

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Crystal nodded. "Yes, I did it for our family as well, but that includes you." she told him. She then nodded in agreement. "I know, it's the most natural thing there is." she said.

Crystal then shrugged. "Well, as close to beautiful as an Ifrit can get." she said. She then listened and smiled a little. "The most beautiful creatures in existence? I suppose we are..."

She then frowned. "But if we can get to Earth, we aren't technically banished here, are we?" she pointed out. "I hate it here, sometimes." she added quietly.[/size]

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Iblîs took off his mittens and picked the ball of snow back up in his hands. Of course her family included him. He had never meant to imply that he wasn’t her family. “Yes, I did it for our family as well, but that includes you. I know, it’s the most natural thing there is,” she answered when he spoke about everyone having different motives. He looked over at her, feeling a slight tendril of annoyance coil in his mind. He brushed it off and continued shaping the small snowball.

“I see,” he replied quietly, rolling the ball into more snow. It reminded him of when he had gone to Earth and seen those pathetic humans make snowmen. He hated humans. They always seemed so… daft.

“Well, as close to beautiful as an Ifrit can get,” Crystal replied. Iblîs stared at her, not quite understanding what she meant. “The most beautiful creatures in existence? I suppose we are.”[/i][/color]

She supposed? He felt the tendril of annoyance come back. “But if we can get to Earth, we aren’t technically banished here, are we?”[/b][/color]

Iblîs stood and brushed the snow from his clothes. “You’re too young to remember being forced away from Earth. It was our home and we were cast aside,” the Head said, staring down at her with a frown. “And if you hate it here, leave. You aren’t necessary to winning this War,” Iblîs said simply.

“As for me, I have interrogations to attend to.”[/size]

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That changed quickly. Crystal stared down at her feet. "I understand. she said, before falling into utter silence.

Things had been going well and calmly, and then of course she had to open her big mouth and make things get a hell of a lot worse. Crystal looked back up at the sky.

Watching the stars made her forget everything.[/size]