Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos !
Okay, so let's admit it… once more : absent-mindedness definitely is one of my greatest flaws, no questions asked. How many things did I forget in my life because of some loss of concentration ? Honestly, I've ceased counting looooong ago ! But lately, inattention caught up with me for the umpteenth time : I had planned to make the vital flames of the Keepers and the colored circles around the green portal match with the color of the cloak of the emoticlone who defeated each Keeper… and alas just forgot about it later on. For instance, Gluttony being beaten by Happy (the Pink Cloak), the Keeper's flame and the circle it removes around Fraktal's portal had to be pink; for Sloth-K, the flame and circle's colour should be brown, the same tint as Sloth-E's cloak; and regarding Wrath, because of Timid's grey uniform, flame and circle had to be grey. But I had put green for Sloth-K's flame and matching circle, and dark red for Wrath's, so I now corrected it all.
So much for pointing out my own mistake. -_-*
Hope you're all doing fine and that you can still manage to "make room" for storywriting in yr busy schedules – ah, school… an eternal love-hate relation to us… -, but also that you're doing good in yr studies !
For the second time, my thanxxxx go solely to Ana (Ruby-of-Red), who reviewed only a few hours after my chapter publishing – been spying on me, by chance, Ana ? – and also updated her own story short after me (copycat ! XD). Thanxxxx for both of these, Miss ! And hey, Folks outta here, if ya wanna read some catchy stories, do go check Ruby-of-Red's stories : they're worth your time ! Like e.g. her last MBC one, THE LASER TAG GAME ! Very interesting ! =)
I'm kind of upset coz I saw that the TT episodes on YT, which used to be very easy to find, now have been removed – for copyrights' sake, for a change… - and have become trickier to "dig up". It's been the same thing wz MBC : first, everything easily accessible, then copyrights built a wall bw the show's episodes and the fans… until JETIX opened their own YT channel and uploaded MBC episodes on there !
Grrrrr… anyway :
N'joy !
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"I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each
I do not think that they will sing to me…" - T.S. ELIOT
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8.11 */*/*/* MERMAID */*/*/* 8.11
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The dark sorceress couldn't help smiling as she mentally said goodbye to Timid, short after warmly thanking her for the excellent performance, which had brought the Titan's number of victories to three.
The Grey Hood had expressed her gratitude several times to her Master, and Raven had modestly certified her shy emotion that she was the one who deserved all the laurels and praises. She could almost feel Timid's blush as the discreet emoticlone felt herself swarm with happiness upon hearing such grateful and encouraging words from her owner.
Raven was glad that she could make the less self-confident of her emotions that comfortable, that pleased, that content with her own work. She knew that Timid not only was the perfect example of modesty, but that she even lacked self-belief, and needed to be shown appreciation for her invaluable help. For, yes, Timid was an irreplaceable element, and she was just as much important as any of her sisters (as the emoticlones were all like sisters to each other, given the strength of their bonds).
And thus could the Goth be pleased with the new victory of another emotion, which meant that the Titans were on the right track to success. The struggles may have been harsh, relentless, ruthless, and all in all way dangerous, but they each time were triumphant and their quest was on the best track up to now… so why couldn't this continue just the same, Keepers falling one by one, until… it would be Fraktal's turn !
Raven now felt more confident about the outcome of their commune mission. Sure their enemies were way mighty and taking them down required so much endurance and power, yet it was possible ! And just knowing that fact help "cement" her trust in their final victory.
Yes, it WAS possible.
And as long as it remained possible, it was worth fighting on !
Raven felt at peace. Indeed, knowing that the Titans – that is, both Teen Titans and Titans East teams – and the emoticlones had pretty good chances of success sure was something that maintained the motivation and determination levels high.
That… and, of course, the kind thoughts related to Robin.
Rae ?
Talking of the devil…
Yes, Rob ?
I just thought I'd let you know that Starfire and… uh, Happy have come back from Limbo. They managed to take down the first Keeper, Gluttony. I was slightly surprised, as I didn't know they would come back here… I initially imagined we would all meet up by Fraktal's lair's entrance or so. But anyway, they're now safe here and we can certainly expect other Titans and emotions to soon arrive here as well, once they have defeated their respective Keepers.
That's great news, Robin ! I'm pleased to hear that our friends are coming back ! You should soon see Speedy, Sloth, Timid and Mas & Menos turn up as well, since they were already battling their own Keepers when they contacted me, and probably have got rid of them by now. So, one by one, our enemies are destroyed and the magical barriers protecting Fraktal's lair therefore vanish one after another ! We're on the right track, Rob !
Raven felt a heat surge upon pronouncing the nickname of the leader.
Her leader.
But before the latter could add anything, the dark sorceress hastened to inquire about one of the topics dearest to her heart (A/N : did I phrase this correctly or what ? o.O)
And you, Rob, how… how are you ? Is everything alright for you ? Do you manage to deal with your upset regarding your inaction ?
She was just on the brink of adding another question, but restrained herself from doing so, since her query was : Do you miss me ?
And despite her great will to hear the answer to this, she just seemed unable to actually bring herself to go ahead and ask it for good. It was because of her education and her personality. A shy person cannot change and open up that easily… be it a human or only a half-human.
I'm good, Rae. Just somewhat tired now, but no big deal.
I'm sorry for you, Rob ! I know that being forced to wait and resign yourself to staying away from battles must induce some tiredness, some weariness… I'm sorry, really ! And I do hope you'll feel better soon ! Please let me now if you need anything, if there is anything I can do for you.
And as she uttered the last words, she thought of what exactly she would be glad to do for him if she was standing in front of him, their faces just inches from each other, their eyes staring intensely back, their hearts beating fast and hard, their mouths and lips dry, their whole bodies embraced by a warm wave…
What she ignored was that Robin felt just the same, as he had thought identically to her when she had ended her sentence : he had imagined what precisely he would have gladly asked her to do for him if she had stood just a few inches from him. He would have asked her to come closer and put her arms around him, lay her head on his shoulder, close her eyes and enjoy that blissful moment, the time having like stopped for both of them.
Thank you for your concern, Rae ! I really appreciate a lot ! And back at you : if anything is wrong on your side, please don't hesitate and tell me immediately ! I'm sorry I can't be with you, I really am, but I hope you will stay safe all the way ! Take great care of you, Rae…
… because I can't do it myself, alas !, he thought to himself.
Thank you so much, Rob ! Be fine as well… and contact me should you need anything !
I will ! Thanks, Rae ! Talk to you later ! Bye for now, Rae !
Bye for now, Rob !
The mental link came to its end and Raven found herself smiling, a light blush coloring her grey cheeks. She never blushed before, but now, each time she was communicating mentally with the Boy Wonder, the pleasing warmth deliciously soothed her and the same pink tint appeared on her face.
The Cloaked Titan raised her eyes and took in her surroundings as she went on, daydreaming as she did so.
She was now walking on a desolate moor, with no sign of life, as had been the case with all the other Guardians domains. That common point made it clear that really few or no forms of life inhabited those dangerous regions where the different dark lords resided. As if those great foes couldn't live in harmony with other beings…
The moor evolved into a gentle slope, and the half-demon soon found herself walking by the seaside, as an ocean was gently rustling on her left side under a rather gloomy sky. That was the only perceptible movement around the Titan : everywhere, everything was motionless…
…and silent.
Silence, once again…
That too was a common point in the three worlds Raven had gone through : before contending with the mutant animals bearing Fraktal's green eye, she had always evolved in a soundless environment, her steps being the unique noise throughout desert lands where danger was awaiting her, concealed.
That's why the empath, remembering each attack she had had to face in the deceptive silence of the apparently uninhabited area, associated the calm and mute landscape with an imminent strike, originating from a hidden threat.
And that's why, suspecting that something was up somewhere around her, she came to a halt and intently observed her surroundings.
Each previous time, I evolved in complete silence, and it wasn't long before some enemies showed up. They had been waiting for me, hidden in some place, from which they came out to attack as soon as I was close enough. And my instinct tells me that there are foes nearby.
She closed her eyes to better focus her extrasensory powers and thus locate the origin of the underlying menace.
Her magical sensitivity probed the desert area and soon massed on her right, indicating without possible error that the threat came from that side.
Raven reopened her violet orbs and turned to face the sea.
She narrowed her eyes at the giant liquid stretch which tirelessly reproduced the same pattern, the ebb and flow repeating endlessly and not giving away any potential menace.
Around the sorceress's body, dark energy appeared, like a black fire consuming her, and in her sockets, white replaced violet, and that white started to shine with great intensity.
"Show yourself !" she ordered loudly, her fists clenched by her sides, analyzing the ocean to try and detect any single movement, even the tiniest one.
But the liquid element just continued its comings and goings, lazily moving in the same rhythmic way, unchanged minutes after minutes.
If some beings were concealed deep under the surface, waiting to launch an assault, they either hadn't heard her… or preferred to wait some more before actually moving into action.
After a while, the grey Titan decided to reiterate her warning.
"I know you're here ! So get out and confront me !" she shouted this time.
But there was just as little result. The sea ignored her call and indifferently proceeded with its monotonous movement.
Whatever is there won't show as long as I face it. The enemies want to attack me by surprise, I'm sure. Alright, let's pretend to walk on without suspicion, and when those creatures show themselves… they'll meet their match !
Therefore, following her idea, the Azarathian opened her hands and let her energy level sink back to normal. Her eyes shifted from a blinding white to their usual violet and the dark aura surrounding her disappeared abruptly.
And with one last look at the moving water, the Goth resumed her walk on the moor.
But she had been going for less than three minutes when she felt a really close presence. It made no doubt to her that the beings hiding in the heart of the sea had come out and were now extremely proximate to her.
Raven made believe she hadn't notice anything and walked on for a few more seconds, pricking up her ears.
A faint noise.
She briskly turned around.
And indeed, there was an enemy !
An enormous octopus was staring at the sorceress with its unique eye. But naturally, as expected, the latter didn't match a standard octopus's eye, yet was instead a light green, matching the one of the Titans' common enemy.
The mutant spread out a very long tentacle, but at a quite unexpected speed for an octopus. Then again, it wasn't any longer a standard animal, but one modified by Fraktal, as could be attested by the presence of the green eye.
Raven floated away from the extended arm, but quickly eyed another one rushing at her from another side. She therefore moved again, but could see a third one heading fast in her direction, which she didn't dodge without some difficulty.
The half-demon floated backwards, but her enemy wasn't ready to let her get out of its grasp : the octopus used several of his tentacles as legs and thus crept up the sandy incline, getting closer and closer to the caped human.
It's starting for good ! thought the girl as the eight-limb creature arrived on the grass and moved further towards her.
Soon, the marine beast came to a halt, not far from its prey, and four muscular arms were thrown at the empath. The sorceress had to move incessantly to avoid being either caught or hit by one of the massive prehensile limbs. It wasn't easy given that the green-eyed being kept on moving swiftly its tentacles, in hopes to either get a hold of or hurt the mobile prey.
Raven finally retreated fast, but was immediately followed by the cephalopode. (A/N : that word comes from French and designates the "animal family" the octopus belongs to; but I couldn't find any equivalent in English, so I wrote it in italics to indicate it's not an official translation, but a default one).
"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos !"
A large rock was thrown at the sea monstrosity, but the latter gathered its arms in front of itself, creating a natural shield which protected its head from the impact.
Raven encased other great rocks nearby and threw them at the enemy, but the result ended just as similar : the foe couldn't be harmed, or at least not seriously.
That made the Goth reflect quickly and she decided to increase the frequency of her attacks. Therefore did she lift always more and more stones from the moor and sent them at her adversary from different sides, hoping that the octopus couldn't move fast enough to shift its arms each time at another place in order to block every new launched rock.
The octopus's limbs moved rapidly around their owner, ensuring protection against several assaults from the human, but given that the beast wouldn't have been able to deal with all the projectiles, it used some of its tentacles to move here and there as the remaining ones prevented the stones to reach the animal.
Gosh ! That monster is tougher than I expected ! Its arms really are a great advantage ! I can increase the number of rocks I throw at it, but still, I don't think it will be of much help. Better try something else.
The grey girl suddenly stretched her arms in front of her and…
"Azarath, Metrion, ZIN- AAAAAH !"
A huge limb covered with suckers had just hit the young sorceress from the side, sweeping her a little further.
Raven turned around, her back to the sea, to discover a second octopus, which had been crawling rather discreetly behind her. Or perhaps it had been her who hadn't noticed the foe, given the noise produced during the battle and her focusing at the first cephalopode.
The half-demon's eyes shifted between her two opponents, observing carefully as they approached on their "tentacles-legs", ready for the next round. And soon enough, multiple muscular arms were trying to either catch her or punch her out.
Rae focused her power and sent dark spiraling beams to each of her antagonists, but she this time curved her energy shots so that these bent around the sea monsters and made it way more difficult for them to ward off.
And, to the grey Titan's satisfaction, her magical blows began to be effective, as the eight-limb creatures both let out pretty loud roars, mixes of pain and anger.
Raven was about to launch a new attack when a massive sprawling member wrapped around her head, gagging her and therefore preventing her from uttering her three magical words. What had occurred is that a third enemy had been sneaking behind the cloaked girl while she was busy battling the two other foes, and that third one had had all time to prepare attacking the Titan.
The teenager's eyes widened as the tentacle lifted her from the ground and swiftly bent down in a loop pattern. She knew that the octopus was gaining momentum and that it either was about to smash her to the ground or to throw her in the distance. So she had to act quick !
Just when the tentacle was unbending and about to crush its prey on the grassy moor, the empath's body metamorphosed into sable mist, which escaped the marine assailant's grasp, flew away and "landed" further away on the moor, where it morphed back into a frail grey, black and blue-clad human body. (A/N : "sable" is a literary term for "black"; it is notably used in heraldry, where the different colours bear specific equivalence designations : "sable" for black, "sinople" for green, "azur" for blue aso.)
More octopuses crept behind the Goth while the first three were hurrying to the new location of their enemy, and Rae soon had to face many attackers assaulting her from all possible sides.
She at first used her powers against the beasts but, given the multiple origins of the assaults she was facing, she then did her best to escape from the menacing circle trying to eliminate her… yet she couldn't avoid getting caught once more !
This time, she focused her powers and her eyes suddenly shone a bright white.
The next second, the cephalopodes' tentacles moved by themselves, the creatures being unable to control them anymore. The octopus holding Raven in its grasp held out its "arm" and, against its own will, caught the limb of the closest fellow creature. The second octopus couldn't prevent doing the same with the third one, and so on, each of the monsters being unable to master their own tentacle moves any longer. And of course, none of them would have suspected that it was the human's magic which was at the source of this incredible phenomenon…
Soon, all the sea animals were each holding the tentacle of another fellow creature, completely reluctantly, their limbs no longer under their control, but under their adversary's. Raven knew that her trap was ready. It was time.
"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos !"
Dark energy exited her body, but under the appearance of some electric wave. The black electrified current entered the tentacle of the monster holding her, then spread throughout its entire body and made it along the "arm" holding the next octopus. The dark magic propagated inside the second cephalopode and on to the third one, and so on.
Soon, the whole range of marine monsters were filled with the black electricity-looking energy wave, and all produced a low howl hinting well enough to their utter pain while they hectically moved their eight prehensile "arms", suffering terribly from the flowing power.
It lasted a long minute, no more… and in the end, all green eyes closed and all limbs stopped moving, the one wrapped around Raven turning limp and letting go of its prey, who floated back to the ground and observed the fallen corpses now resting on the grassy moor.
I've made it. But I can't leave those bodies lying there : they will rotten and no scavengers will devour them as there are no animals around here. I'll rather put them back into the sea, where it can serve as food for other fishes and sea creatures.
This being thought, she levitated the numerous carcasses and sunk them into the ocean, now a giant tomb for its once living inhabitants. She watched them disappear underwater and, after a final glance, turned on her heels and resumed her walk towards the Guardian's lair.
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A few sunrays had managed to pierce the grey, thick cloud layer and now gave more light to the fairly dark scenery of this crepuscular hour.
Raven had stopped and was currently staring at her destination, a little further ahead.
A decaying lighthouse which ominously haunted the landscape from the barren promontory on which it lonely, almost gloomily stood. (A/N : dunno for ya, but this last sentence, although conspicuously highbrow, sounds pretty nice to the ear… no ? ;) )
The roof was lacking, and in its place was a gigantic hole.
No sign of life, as usual in the Guardians' worlds, but the Titan's magical sensitivity couldn't ever mislead her on the location of her enemies… and it presently let her know that the holder of the aura was hidden somewhere in the abandoned building !
The Cloaked Titan walked closer to the derelict construction and, again, came to a halt, her narrowed eyes examining the devastated walls, looking for signs of life.
But nothing.
Nothing… and yet…
…yet…
… she was in there ! She was remaining concealed, in all likelihood observing her prey from some hole in the stone. And she was just waiting the right moment to attack.
"Come out, Guardian ! I know you're hiding in there, so do us a favour by no longer wasting our time and showing yourself NOW !"
The whole bunch had been uttered in a loud tone, but the last word almost shouted, on a pretty menacing tone !
Silence followed the utterance.
A long silence which stretched over seconds and seconds and seconds.
And it seemed that nothing was about to occur…
…when some loud wing flapping started from inside the old building !
The noise grew louder, louder, until a fairly huge hybrid monster appeared at the top of the "beheaded" lighthouse and perched on the destroyed wall.
It was a bird, but whose head was a woman's ! A beautiful female human face whose slightly slanted eyes coldly watched the half-demon far below.
The paws were in fact talons, which made it clear that it wasn't just any random bird's body : it was a raptor's !
The two enemies assessed each other for a while, none of them making a single noise.
Eventually, the human-headed bird took off and sank to the ground, landing on a half-tarnished pillar standing not far from the lighthouse.
"Who dares trouble Mermaid's quietness ?" asked the mixed creature in a smooth but almost emotionless voice.
"I dare" calmly answered a deadpan Raven.
Mermaid's eyes narrowed at the defying words.
"Who are you to behave that boldly ?"
"A Teen Titan, who came here to defeat you and get your aura !"
The hybrid smirked, a pretty evil smirk, as a matter of fact.
"So you're one of those rash beings who have dared to brave our Mastermind ? I pity you, really, for you have come all this way for nothing : I'm going to put your body at rest and allow the soul imprisoned inside to exit it and get where it belongs… in hell !"
But if Mermaid's voice was definitely void of emotion, Raven's wasn't any less.
"First, it is not the Titans who have defied Fraktal, but him who started it all by hypnotizing the inhabitants of Jump City and making them act completely out of their minds. And second, don't imagine you're impressing me or scaring me at all : if one of us is sending the other to hell, it will be me, not you ! So get ready for your shellacking, Mermaid !"
The Guardian gained a severe expression.
"You're rather self-confident, Titan. But I'll give you the ultimate lesson ! Prepare yourself for your last fight !"
The half-demon gave a slight smirk.
"No need for that. If there's one last struggle here, it's yours ! Come already, Guardian !"
Needless say more : the hybrid spread out her wings, a menacing frown twisting her features, and after briskly taking off, she dove straight on Raven.
"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos !"
A dark beam rose towards the flying enemy, but the latter moved in a spiraling manner at an incredible speed and thus easily dodged the magic "missile".
Mermaid rushed astonishingly fast to the sorceress, who wasn't quick enough in moving away and was soon scratched on her face by the Guardian's talons.
The monster flew off and made a circle in order to get back to the grey girl.
Raven could feel a diffuse pain stem from her cheek, but she didn't even deem it useful to put her hand to her face : she knew that she was bleeding and didn't need to see red liquid on her finger to be aware of it.
Mermaid was already diving down again at her. No time to waste.
Raven launched several energy shots upwards, making sure they were grouped closely enough to get the moving target.
But alas…
The human-headed bird whirled so amazingly fast around the dark group of beams and soon reached the cloaked teenager.
This time, Rae had anticipated the quick moves of her adversary and moved out of the way. But Mermaid wasn't over yet : she rapidly shook her wings once while flying on, and Raven stared with incredulity at the feathers falling straight on her, apparently rigid instead of limp, as if they were daggers rather than mere feathers.
The Azarathian would have moved away again… if she had had more time ! But the Guardian had attacked short before, when she was really close, and this, together with the surprise itself at seeing the feathers fly that straight, didn't leave her enough time to ward it off !
And therefore, the feathers, now sharp as razors, cut the grey skin on the arms and the thighs, earning a wince and air briskly inhaled through gritted teeth.
"Eh eh, having a hard time dealing with my speed, Titan ?" scoffed the creature.
Raven's teeth were still gritted, but it was now out of anger more than out of pain, and her frown had accentuated, showing without ambiguity how much she wanted to get revenge for the spilling of her own blood.
"You're certainly prompt in your assaults, but you shouldn't imagine that I can't find any parry and that you have already won. I've defeated pretty tricky opponents before you, and besides, no one is invincible. So wipe that stupid grin off your face for you won't see the end of this day, Mermaid !"
The Guardian's face convulsed into a dead ugly grimace of utter fury.
"How dare you insult me ?! And menace me ?! You'll pay for that, miserable worm !"
Raven made a despising smirk.
"Oh really ? I'd be curious to see how you'll do that…"
The monster was literally fuming.
"Like this !"
The dark lord let herself sink towards Raven and began making swift loops. But that wasn't everything : she kept on throwing feathers at her adversary, each time she changed direction. This ended up in countless sharp feathers heading straight to the violet-haired fighter.
A dark dome appeared around the "leotard-Titan", on which crashed all the keen projectiles.
The dome then vanished and Raven quickly searched the sky for her enemy, but found nothing.
A foreboding…
But it was already too late when she turned around : the talons assaulted her face, searching for her eyes, but not making it because of the Dark Titan incessantly thrashed about, her hands trying to seize the hybrid's neck, but having a hard time due to the wings flapping violently on her.
"Azarath, Metrion, ZINTHOS !"
Mermaid let out a powerful shriek when, encased in a black energy bubble, she was cast away in a flash, falling in an arc of circle and diving into the raging ocean.
The bubble finally disappeared, leaving the half-human half-bird monster deep underwater. The latter swung her legs as fast as she could to move upwards and slowly but surely reached the surface, where she erupted craving for air, as she wasn't that far from suffocating.
That little witch had almost killed her. She therefore was stronger than expected. Which implied a tough fight. But the Guardian wouldn't let herself be impressed by the potential of her antagonist. No way ! She was the great Mermaid, and nobody could beat her ! Not in a hundred million years !
A mask of fury was plastered over her features as she managed to extract herself from the cold and wet embrace of the sea. She had been humiliated, and this called for only one punishment…
Death.
The bird with a woman's head flew back to the fighting place, determined to send that young little pest to hell without further delay.
Meanwhile, Raven had been checking her every movements, aware that such a powerful being couldn't be destroyed that early. It would take much more to have her out of the way for good.
She hadn't build on the time Mermaid was underwater to heal herself, because she would have had to close her eyes and focus her energy on that magical task… which implied not being able to see what her foe was doing and losing the focus on her to the benefit of her wounds. And that would have been a pretty perilous choice : indeed, an enemy must never be left unseen, no matter how weak, for an enemy can always surprise you and catch you by surprise ! Therefore, always keep an eye on the one opposite, to try and foresee the next attack, the next move.
As a result of this, Raven was forced to wait for Mermaid's destruction to grant herself some healing time, and till then, she was to remain with her blood-covered face, forced to do her best to ignore the throbbing pain swarming in many spots of her grey face.
It was struggle's cost : having to bear the pains, no matter what. And, as cruel and painful as it proved, it was still necessary. There was no other way.
So Arella's daughter couldn't do anything else but grit her teeth under pain's continuous assaults, which she was determined to brush aside and consider even less than secondary. All that mattered now was her fight and her winning it.
The Guardian was finally back in front of Rae, flapping her wings fast under wrath's influence, her face misshapen by her intense hate against the one who had dared throwing her in the ocean, an unforgiving insult which deserved the ultimate sentence !
"Alright, Titan. You've done something you NEVER should have done. And for this, you will die !"
Raven's calm expression wasn't altered the slightest.
"Is this the part where I'm supposed to be impressed ?"
(A/N : line taken from THE BEAST WITHIN, during the Raven-Beast Boy clash… I just love that dauntless sentence ! :D )
Mermaid's eyes flashed with utter ire.
"I'LL MAKE YOU REGRET YOUR CHEEKINESS, YOU LITTLE INSIGNIFICANT INSECT ! I'LL MAKE SURE YOU DON'T DIE IMMEDIATELY, BE SURE OF THAT !"
Rae didn't even bat an eyelash at those threatening screams.
The hybrid then opened her mouth and… a smooth voice filled the air !
The pale girl imperceptibly raised an eyebrow.
Why is she singing ? Is it some new tri- GGGGGGHHHH !
Raven suddenly felt a gigantic pain vibe flow through her body. It was awful. Therefore did she put her hands on her ears.
But while the singing got muffled, the pain didn't recede, remaining constant in her organism.
There was nothing to do about it.
It was the first time that Rae met an enemy who produced a nefarious effect from a positive action (here, the sweet singing).
Mermaid then sang louder, and the dolor intensified everywhere inside the half-demon body.
That… that pain… it's… so overwhelming… oh Azar… this… this is… horrible…
Raven thought that the only way she could force her antagonist was if she could launch an attack her way, so that the singing scourge would have to stop her chant and ward off the attack. And the sorceress would then make the most of it by multiplying her assaults against the monster, to prevent her from restarting singing.
Yes, that was probably the only thing to attempt.
Raven therefore removed her hands from her ears and opened her mouth quickly to utter her mantra… but never got to even pronounce the first syllable !
The pain imprisoning her body was so intense that she couldn't even utter a single word ! Mermaid's power was that great that it paralyzed her vocal folds by drowning her in a sea of dolor where she was forced to focus only on the horrible pain wrecking her organism.
That's why, having no other choice, the sorceress put her hands back on her head's sides, pushing them as tightly as she could against her ears.
Then it hit her : perhaps that, the Guardian's voice being muffled, it would be a tad easier for her to concentrate on her magical formula, and finally be able to let it out ?
But, as if she had guessed her intention, her foe increased the volume of her song, reaching the highest peak of loudness, which triggered a rise of soreness in the Titan's frail body.
Rae tried hard to cope with the pejoration of her condition, to "push aside" the tremendous wave of pain overwhelming her and to put herself fully into the incantation.
Yet, to her utter dismay, it didn't work !
Things were happening as if Mermaid's singing power had the unwelcome consequence of "freezing" her vocal folds and thus preventing the grey teen to use her powers through her mantra.
That pain… That horrible pain… I must make it stop… NOW !
The hybrid sang on but simultaneously started to cast her sharp feathers down at her immobilized target.
Raven was so busy forcing herself to try chanting her three sacred words, so focus on her own powers, that she neglected keeping her adversary in check, and thus didn't see the projectiles rushing to her.
She realized it when several additional painful spots appeared on the surface of her skin, making her scream.
Her violet eyes caught sight of Mermaid just in time to see the monster launch a new attack. So she could quickly stand up and float backwards swiftly to avoid other wounds. And it was a close one indeed.
The Goth thought that, since she couldn't focus to use her mantra to strike the Guardian, there was only one possibility remaining.
Only one…
The violet-haired teenager, her hands still pressed hard on her ears, stopped floating away, quickly closed her eyes and, after a few seconds, reopened them… black !
She fixed her gaze on Mermaid and swiftly opened her mouth wide.
A large black beam shot out from Raven's depths and sped along towards the Guardian. So fast, actually, that the latter was taken by surprise and couldn't move quick enough to dodge the incoming energy ray.
The sable-colored beam collided hard with the dark lord, who was swept back and crashed to the ground far behind.
The dark sorceress hadn't wasted any single second and, short after "spitting" out her powerful magical ray, standing tall, she shouted her mantra on the top of her voice.
"AZARATH, METRION, ZINTHOS !"
A dark sphere left the nest of her hands and hurried through the air, aiming at the hybrid, who had recovered with some difficulty and was now ready for another assault… whereas it would be Raven, and not her, Mermaid, to launch that assault !
The woman-headed creature steered clear of the black globe and opened her mouth.
But Raven had motioned her hand in a circular shape, apparently producing no effect – and therefore not worrying her opponent – but in fact making the dark sphere, which Mermaid had just avoided, operate a u-turn and fly back to the hybrid.
The latter had therefore opened her mouth and her voice started to spread, forcing the cloaked fighter to cover her ears again.
But it didn't last beyond a few seconds, for the black globe briskly stopped around the dark lord, imprisoning her in its cold embrace.
Mermaid abruptly ceased singing and tried her powers on the opaque bubble : cutting feathers and talons were used time and time again… but to no avail ! The Titan's dark energy was extremely powerful and few enemies could manage to escape its grasp.
So she ultimately tried her most efficient attack : her incredibly nefarious voice.
She sang louder and louder, as loud as she could, confident in her ability to destroy the black sphere.
But not only didn't it work, yet another phenomenon took place, that none of the fighters had envisaged : the sounds were reverberated and amplified within the bubble. In fact, they kept on reverberating several times inside the black prison, each time being amplified.
Mermaid soon stopped singing, since she had noticed a growing pain inside her head. And the more the sounds were amplified, the more that dolor augmented within her.
The Guardian yelled as the pain turned unbearable, and her screams' volume rose proportionally to the increase of the soreness.
Raven, who certainly wasn't used to being impressed, couldn't this time repress a quiver of fright as she heard the dark lord's deafening, horrible shouts, which sounded now more animal than human, and hinted well enough to the degree of suffering the hybrid was experiencing.
The pain had reached an intolerable level, Mermaid's head throbbing awfully from the excruciating dolor.
The Guardian gave a particularly deafening scream…
…and her head exploded in a spouting of blood and bones !
Liquid and tiny white bits rained down inside the dark sphere and the winged body collapsed heavily within the round globe.
And simultaneously did the Guardian's vital energy vanish, which Raven could feel through her extrasensory powers.
It was over.
For good.
Mermaid had lived, Mermaid had killed and, at last, Mermaid had passed away.
And her decease had been pretty violent : a head blast was definitely a rough way to die.
Raven motioned for her dark sphere to land and made it disappear with a wave.
Blood and bones fragments spread on the grassy hill. It was all that was left from the hybrid monster haunting that desolate land and bringing the seamen to their doom through the hypnotizing power of her mesmerizing voice, a terrible "weapon" indeed.
And of course, additionally to the remains of the human-headed bird, there was some new element hovering in the cold air : a bright blue blob whose shape was constantly changing.
The Azarathian drew near and, once she was in front of the shiny evolving shape, she stretched her arms towards it and quickly brought them to the left, in direction of the horizon.
The aura zoomed away over there and was soon out of sight, on its way to the next Keeper, whose magical defense it would shatter, enabling another pair Titan-emoticlone to harm a new Limbo lord and, hopefully, destroy it, thus solving another issue in Jump City… and having another fey barrier vanish from around the green portal leading to the Mastermind.
One more victory. Still that difficult… but still that successful ! Things are improving step by step, and slowly but surely, we're making it ! And I'm convinced that eventually, we'll get to you, Fraktal… and we'll annihilate you once and for all ! I'll personally see to it !
The dark sorceress then sit down to rest for a while, and massage her head, which somehow was still sore from Mermaid's terrible song. That song of death which had killed so many sailors… but which, very ironically, had ended up turning against its creator and killing her…!
Yes, pretty often, life held so many ironical, paradoxical or cruel surprises… one never knew…
/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\ _/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/ \_/\_/\
I've been crying recently.
More than once.
And I rarely ever weep.
The one who made me shed tears is called Zoe Guignard. She comes from Switzerland and should have turned 5 years old today, Monday October 28th.
But she won't ever turn 6.
Because she has slipped away two days ago, on Saturday October 26th.
Zoe had a neuroblastome (French word for which I couldn't find any English translation, and for which I suspect the translation would actually be identical to the original word, "neuroblastome"), that is a cancer located in the outer part of the skull.
This poor little girl was actually born with that cancer, and she had to receive her first chemotherapy in the first 24 hours of her existence ! From then on, she has been continuously fighting, receiving transfusions, platelets (her body has always had platelets lacks, together with white blood cells problems) and, basically, suffering and getting exhausted from all the non-stop treatment to try and get rid of that head cancer.
The treatment she received in the first months of her life made an improvement possible, but alas… alas… at the end of April 2009, there was a relapse and new chemotherapies, new medicine, on and on and on, new platelets …
Things worsened continuously, until a light of hope fell over Zoe this year : a treatment based on MIBG (check it out in Wikipedia if you're interested) appeared as the last-chance treatment, the only one still able to save the little girl's life.
Unfortunately, it was announced this month, around October 10th, that the MIBG hadn't worked… but, even worse, cancer had become widespread in the entire body and, to the parents' utter horror, had attacked the bones' marrow, which of course foreshadowed an irreversible turn of the disease… and an ineluctable end : death.
Since her parents had realized that it will prove impossible for Medicine to save their little girl, they decided to do their utmost to fulfill her one wish : enable her to meet Winter the dolphin, whose story she discovered via a dvd.
That dolphin had his tail cut, and should logically have died from that lethal wound. But human science came to his rescue and, thanks to an artificial tail (prosthesis), Winter escaped death's clutches. Zoe immediately felt some empathy for Winter, as she too was threatened by the Grim Reaper, and she naturally came to hope that human science could save her, just like it had saved that dolphin.
Alas, fate made it so that what had been successful with Winter – preserving his life – unfortunately wasn't with Zoe : this adorable little girl was condemned…
So her parents decided to do everything they could to have their daughter as happy as she could before becoming another star in the night sky… And so, they left Switzerland last Friday for Florida, but Zoe was feeling really tired, her poor body exhausted from the last assaults of the disease throughout her body, making her always weaker and weaker… She was clearly declining and, on Tuesday, her condition brutally deteriorated and made her parents and sister fear the worse.
They went in a terrible rush to Clearwater Marine Aquarium and Zoe could at last see her wish come to reality : she could see Winter, even if she was in an awful condition and therefore couldn't appreciate this moment as much as she should/would have.
And on Friday evening, she had become so weak that her mum took her to hospital. There, Zoe fought for dear life all night long, but cancer was gaining ground rapidly… and in the morning, as she was listening to her favourite French song in her mother's arms, she finally breathed her last breath and closed her eyes for the last time. Zoe peacefully slipped away, her inner light quietly going out, the flickering flame inside her poor body blown out…
She has ceased suffering after almost 5 years of ongoing struggles against such a dreadful enemy.
There have been so many soothing messages for the parents, condolences, support, sympathy… I've never seen that much solidarity around a cancer-striken child, and this is one of those times when I can indisputably be proud of my fellow humans. If only solidarity was more widespread everywhere and more often in the world, and not only in such extreme conditions…!
I've watched videos from her, am currently reading her story on her mother's blog (only in French, alas, so I won't give you the link) and follow news on the bilingual English-French website which was created especially for her, ( /) and to also help other parents with cancerous children, notably regarding the parental leave, which remains too short at the time being.
And I just can't stop thinking of Zoe.
And I'm sad, sad, so terribly, so horribly sad for her.
How heartbreaking it is to think she had to leave existence when it had just began…
I'm still reading her mother's blog daily, for I want to know everything about Zoe.
And when I think she was about to celebrate her anniversary, two days later.
She would have turned 5.
Only 5.
Such a terribly short existence…
Poor little Zoe…
Adorable little girl, with such a sweet smile, such a nice laughter.
Dear Zoe, I'm sorry to no end for you. So painfully sorry.
I apologize for being that dark and sad at the end of this chapter, but I just HAD to share this with you all.
Please pray for Zoe Guignard. Pray for her eternal peace. Pray for her soul. And pray for her heartbroken family, which are devastated and now need all the possible support, even if this support is only virtual, in thoughts or in prayers.
And regarding the organization which was created for her, but also for other cancerous children, it is bilingual English-French, as I said, so that everyone around the globe can make donations. So if you want to do something useful and help the world become a better place, you can give a small amount –or, like me, a greater one – for this noble cause, in memory of Zoe and all the poor children who already died from cancer, or those who alas soon will…
I've got nothing else to say today.
My heart is bleeding.
But I'll hold on.
Take care, all of you, be healthy and happy.
And God bless childhood everywhere !
PLE !
XXXX
(Faith)