Author's Note: WOW! Sorry it took me so long to update. For those of my readers that don't know, I am in the military, and I've been quite busy recently. Trust me, I'll keep updating. I am NOT going to abandon this story. But I beg of you all, be patient. And keep reviewing. And spread the word!
Azlarok Tolkien: Well, who's to say that it won't come true?
Rob: Long stories are not always the best. You should know that.
Pyro: Just hang on to your sanity a little while longer. We're not even to R'lyeah yet.
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Chapter 1
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The Ballad of Brother Blood
/
Terra stared coldly at the robed, middle-aged man sitting across from her. The cup of tea he'd provided sat untouched before her, even as he sipped his own slowly, savoring the taste.
"So," he started, taking the cup from his lips. "You want to know everything, I suppose?"
Terra nodded slowly, then leaned forward to give him her undivided attention. "That would be nice."
Blood smiled widely. "Well, why not? After all, we have awhile before we reach our destination." He reclined in his seat and looked at the ceiling. With a final deep sigh, he began his story.
/
"I am not the first to hold the title of Brother Blood, but I will most likely be the last."
"The title?"
"Yes. I was born Sebastian Bloodworth in the small, almost non-existent country of Zandia. My father was the current leader of the Blood Church, and thus the holder of the title Brother Blood. It was the closest one could come to royalty in Zandia. The current Brother Blood establishes and enforces laws, creates policy, and so on. I was raised and educated to the foregone conclusion that I would be the next Brother Blood, and that I would inherit that title the same way all the previous Brother Bloods had."
"And how was that?"
"I would have to murder my father."
The look of shock on Terra's face made Blood chuckle. "Don't be so shocked. All churches and religions have practices that others find odd. In our case, the power that comes from being Brother Blood is so consuming, if we weren't killed then we would simply never give it up."
"And you think that justifies patricide?"
Blood shrugged. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, my father was a bitter, cruel man who abused his power and tried to have me killed on my fifth birthday. I was, of course, saved by my uncle… in more ways than one."
"What do you mean?"
"You see, it was very hard to keep secrets from my father, with him being the ruler of the country and all, but my uncle was part of another order that were all very good at keeping secrets. After the assassination attempt, my uncle inducted me into the order for protection… and changed my life forever." Blood reached past his collar and pulled out a dime-sized silver amulet.
Emblazoned on it was the horrid and unmistakable visage of Cthulhu.
"Your uncle brought you into the cult."
Blood smiled gently, tucking the amulet back into his robes. "Cult is such an ugly word, child. But, yes, I was inducted into the ranks of those who worship the Great Old Ones. They protected me from my father's wrath until the day of my eighteenth birthday. On that day, it was beyond them whether I would live or die. It was up to me, and me alone. So, on that beautiful Sunday morning, with the sun barely peeking over the mountains that shielded my home from the world… I beheaded my father in his sleep."
Terra couldn't hide her disgust in time. "You're a monster."
Blood chuckled. "Perhaps I am. Perhaps it would have been more honorable to awaken him first. But on that day, as I accepted the name of Brother Blood, the people of Zandia celebrated and heaped blessings upon my name. To them, their wicked ruler was gone, and a new, benevolent leader had risen… anointed in blood."
"So you were loved by your brainwashed citizens. What next?"
"Well, I had to take a wife. That was the first thing. Continue the blood-line, if you'll pardon the pun. My uncle, now my most trusted advisor, selected another member of the order's daughters for me. She was fair and beautiful… not at all unlike you."
Terra shuddered at the implication.
"We were wed, and from our union came a son; Bastion. Those were the happiest days of my life, child. Basking in the people's adoration, a beautiful, loving wife and child, serving a purpose and driving the land I loved onward to a glorious future… but nothing lasts forever."
"Your uncle?"
"You are a bright young woman, aren't you?" Blood chuckled darkly. "Yes, my uncle. He wished for me to use my now limitless powers to advance the cause of the Great Old Ones. He wanted our vast treasuries liquidated and used to sail expeditions for R'lyeah. He said I owed him my life, and when I refused to move as quickly as he wished, he threatened to take my son from me."
Blood closed his eyes, and Terra saw the slightest trace of an emotion cross his face. Sorrow.
"He… they took my son on his eighth birthday and… brain-washed him. Made him think that his mother and I were imposters and had to be stopped. Before I had any idea of what was going on, my beloved wife had been stabbed to death by her own flesh and blood. And I…I…"
A lonely tear fell from Blood's eye.
Terra stared in disbelief. "What did you do?"
"I… I had no other choice. I did what I had to do. I killed my own child to save my country."
Terra couldn't hold back at this. She leapt to her feet, fists clenched in rage. "No! You killed him to save yourself!"
"MIND YOUR TONGUE!" Blood screamed in rage, his eyes flooding with red. A high speed wind filled the room, whipping debris every which way. Terra shielded her eyes as best she could. The wind was so strong that she found herself pushed against the wall. "YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW I SUFFERED! HOW I STILL SUFFER!"
At last, the wind died down, and Terra opened her eyes to gaze upon the once again sitting super-villain before her.
"No idea…." He muttered, breathing heavily, before clearing his throat. He gestured for her to resume seating, which she did, eying him cautiously. "I made them all suffer, you know. I knew all of their secret chambers and hideaways. I sought them all out and slaughtered them without mercy, one by one. Of course, I saved my uncle for last. I had him tortured to the brink of death and brought back over and over and over again over the course of the next ninety days. It was only when I finally allowed him to finish his journey to the next life that I realized the damage had been done; the chain had been broken. The Church of Blood would die with me."
"Boo-freaking-hoo." Terra spat.
Blood ignored her. "Disasters and plagues began to occur on a daily basis in my beloved home-land. The people begged me to help, but such things were, and are, beyond my control. They turned against me and rebelled. I had no choice but to flee my own country in disgrace. I found myself in the United States, and I was contacted by a very secretive group needing a… teacher… for one of their training facilities. And that is how I became the Head-Master of the H.I.V.E. Academy."
"What group was that?"
"Never you mind." Blood said quickly, waving a dismissive hand. "They're in the past. Now, let me tell you of my glorious re-awakening…"
/
Raven…
The voice came to her deep in her sleep. She did her best to ignore it.
Raven…
More insistent now. Couldn't he wait 'til morning?
"Raven?"
Go away… go away… go away, damn it all…
"Raven?"
Too late. The state had been broken.
Groaning loudly, Raven removed herself from her bed and went to the cabin's door. She yanked it open, revealing Gar in mid-knock, his hair sticking up from his own pillow.
"Uh… hi."
"It is three in the morning, Gar." She hissed through gritted teeth, stressing each word. "What could you possibly want?"
Gar lowered his arm. "Um. It's hard to explain. Can I come in?"
Exhaling loudly, Raven moved to the side and allowed him to enter. Like her, he was clad in the simple pajamas Star had packed, except that his were blue as opposed to her black garb.
He moved across the room and sat on her bed, gesturing for her to sit next to him. She grudgingly shut the door and did as he requested.
Once seated, she looked at him, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "So, what's the matter?"
He chuckled, staring at the floor. "Girl troubles."
Raven rolled her eyes. "No kidding. Terra?"
Gar shook his head.
"Then who?"
Without a word, he turned his eyes to hers. Even through a mind still half clouded in sleep, she could read those eyes perfectly.
He wanted her.
Seconds passed.
Raven threw up her palms. "Whoa whoa whoa. Hold up there. What exactly is that look supposed to mean?"
"You're the empath. You tell me." He was moving closer now.
He was right. She could practically reach out and touch the lust leaking from Gar's aura. "Gar, listen. You're confused and… and… and you're upset…"
"No, I'm not. I'm really not. Everything's very clear all of a sudden. I know you used to like me, Raven."
"Wh…yes, but the key words are 'used to,' Gar."
He was uncomfortably close now.
"Well, what if I still like you?"
She could feel his breath on her lips.
"But… Terra…"
"Forget Terra." He whispered, capturing her lips with his.
She resisted briefly, stiffening in shock, then gave in. So… this is what a kiss felt like. It was just as she'd always imagined. Soft and warm and… amazing. She felt his arms encircle her, and in response she wrapped her own around his neck, drawing him deeper into the embrace. She felt his tongue slide into her mouth, reaching impossibly far to the back of her throat. She felt one his hands begin to grope her chest roughly.
A little too roughly.
"Gar… Gar, stop…" She whispered, breaking free of his lips. "Aren't we going a little fast?" He ignored her. Instead, he immediately latched onto her neck, sucking hard and biting the tender flesh there. "Gar!" She hissed in pain, trying to pull his head away. "Gar… GAR, STOP IT! NOW!"
"What's that about Gar?"
The voice made her eyes flash open in shock. She forced the head away from her neck with all of her strength, tugging on hair that was no longer green but jet black.
Dick smiled up at her.
"What's the matter? Am I so bad that you're pretending I'm someone else?"
Raven gasped and fell off the bed, crawling for the door. The carpet seemed to stretch on forever before her.
"Oh, Raven…"
Raven turned to see that the figure was now Star, but the wicked smile on her face was more befitting of her sister.
"Were you so desperate for contact that you even fantasized about me?"
Before her eyes, the thing shifted once more.
"Or me?" The icy cold voice of Slade pierced her eardrums.
Her mind breaking, she averted her eyes and resumed her crawling journey for the door.
The Slade thing started to laugh; a high, cold sound, that slowly deepened until it became a deep echo in her soul. She wanted to turn, to see what could possibly make such an awful sound, but she wouldn't allow herself to. She couldn't allow herself to.
"Whether you look upon me or not is of little consequence to me, Azarian. I know you are coming… and I eagerly await your arrival."
Raven's eyes flashed open as her breath hitched in her throat, threatening to choke her. She fell off of her bed to her knees, clutching at her sealed throat. Her vision began to blur as her lungs screamed for oxygen that was not coming. At long last, her throat began to loosen, and she swallowed the air greedily until her breathing had returned to normal.
Once recovered, she stood and looked in the mirror. The shadows around her eyes were getting darker, just like with the others. The nightmares they were all having were getting stronger and more frequent.
It was a sign.
The stars were moving into their positions.
R'lyeah was rising.
/
"Once I was incarcerated after my defeat at the hands of the Titans, I merely looked forward to spending the rest of my days in quiet solitude in my cell. That was until my Master came for me… and showed me the path to his return."
"Star?"
Blood nodded. "I saw it all in a dream. Countless eons ago, while on their way to Earth, the Great Old Ones came across a primitive planet populated with undeveloped feline-like creatures. They set about spreading their genetic code amongst them in hopes of creating a new form of life. A superior form of life. However, before they could get very far along, the planet's guardian, a god-like creature called X'hal, forced them away and to continue their journey to Earth. The clashing energies of the Great Old Ones and X'hal caused a chain reaction that kick-started the species' evolution. That planet was Tameran."
"So, how is Star the key if the Great Old Ones failed?"
"Ah, but you misheard me. I said they didn't get very far along. One strand of DNA was successfully converted, and it was carried through one blood-line. The royal blood-line."
"God…" Terra moaned, catching her face in her hands.
"Dread Cthulhu told me that I was to lure the Princess of Tameran to R'lyeah. Once there, he will imbue me with his essence and through me he will use her to create the next God. Once it is born, the Great Old Ones themselves will be mere children in comparison. Think of it! The most powerful beings in existence and they would be CHILDREN!"
Terra looked up at him sadly. "Blood…Sebastian…"
That gave him pause.
"Sebastian, think of your family. Your people. They were destroyed by this. They made you kill your own son. Why are you going through with what they wanted?"
He looked down at her sadly. "Don't you understand yet, child?" She kneeled and took her chin in his hand. "This is all I have left."
He turned and walked away, saying over his shoulder as he went, "You will understand… once you too have lost everything." He stopped at the door's arch. "Once I have served my purpose, I shall cast my eyes upon Dread Cthulhu… and I will lose the sanity that has permitted me to remember the blood-drained body of my Helena… and the feel of the blade as it pierced my son's heart."
He left, leaving Terra alone to think about what had been said.
/
Standing in the wheel-house, the man called David scanned the horizon with the enhanced vision Blood had imbued him with.
He saw something and froze.
A ripple in the water another forty miles off.
And from the center of the ripple… the tip of a rock had begun to rise.
/
Author's Note: Oh snap, things are getting serious now.
The hard part of this chapter was to humanize Blood and give him a proper motivation. See, he doesn't necessarily want the Great Old Ones unleashed. He wants his mind shattered so he won't have to deal with the pain of losing his family anymore.
I'm really hoping that Raven scene came off as great as I envisioned it.
Pre-emptive warning! The next chapter contains SERIOUS LEMON CONTENT. Fairly warned be ye, prunes.
In the next installment, two Titans finally succumb to their feelings… and Slade's darkest secret about Terra is revealed. Will Gar be able to forgive his ally of this atrocity?
NEXT CHAPTER: Collide
R'lyeah is Rising…
Oh, and don't forget! A little review never hurt anybody.