Soul's Entwined
Disclaimer: The Souls Entwined story is my own concept. All characters are owned by their respective creators.
© 2007
Again, I'd like to apologize for the delay...this particular chapter has been the proverbial bitch/bastard as I've been forced to rewrite the thing 6 times now.
Thankfully it's now done and I can finally get started on the next!
A warm welcome to Raven of Alaska, really-great-noodles1, The-Eight-Sin,spikesagitta, Cro-Fael, HyperionTheWatcher, Dookie-Overlord, Banshou Shield, Atrun Kaosu, Agent Reptile, Aidan Fireheart, ReaperCB919, ocean's pebble, Silver King, dragon black, and Shade Darcia
A Promise made
'Let's see...Decapitation...too quick...Dismemberment...too messy...Dynamite...too loud...'
"Stop it. That tickles!"
Raven blinked as she heard the giggling in the distance. She had barely finished getting through letter 'C' of her 'The Alphabet of Revenge' book when the giggling started; she was now at 'D' and still Starfire and Robin continued what ever it was they doing (honestly, they had taken long enough but she didn't want to know). At first she tried to ignore it but the longer it went on the more it continued to irritate her to no end. 'Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos. Ignore them...ignore them...' she chanted silently in her head.
GIGGLE
SLAM
She could feel a vein in her head start throbbing as she slammed her book shut. Couldn't a girl plot her revenge in peace? Leaving her room, she marched towards the source of her irritation with the intent of reminding her neighbors that there were other people in the tower. Rounding about a corner, she blinked as there seemed to be something amiss with what she was seeing. 'That's strange. I don't recall that many doors on this floor.'
GIGGLE
She began to walk faster, her brisk walk turning into a quick jog as 'Rage' decided to surface just a tiny little bit. She could tell the laughter came from the end of the corridor, her patience already reaching her limit as she past nearly a dozen doors.
'Honestly, if they don't stop soon, there's going to be hell to pay,' she growls as her irritation continued to grow. Finally reaching the end of the hall, she stepped in front of the door but had to stop as she nearly hit her face. 'Right...manual doors,' she groused. Pushing the 'open' button, she opened her mouth to start berating whoever was interrupting her silence when a not so silent moan escaped from the now open door.
Raven immediately froze as she saw 'herself' straddling Raziel, hands roaming over his chest as the two were engaged in what could loosely be called 'tongue wrestling.' She tried to avert her gaze but found herself strangely entranced by the whole scene. A large part of her was filled with righteous indignation about whoever was using her image to trick Raziel but an even larger part told her to shut the hell up and keep watching. She had to suppress a shiver as she watched 'Raziel' run his hand along 'her' waist, the phantom touch seemingly transmitting directly to her. 'No...this isn't real,' she told herself, closing her eyes as she tried to convince herself she was dreaming the whole thing.
The question of 'Are you sure?', however, was something she couldn't quite get out of her mind.
Cracking open an eye, she suddenly found herself in Raziel's arms while her doppelganger was now standing to the side, a taunting smirk on her face. "He...hey! What's going o...mmmph?!" Warm lips pressed onto her own as 'Raziel' wrapped his arms around her. As 'his' hand started to reach for the zipper of 'her' leotard she felt herself let out an involuntary moan. "No...don't..." she half-protested as a hand pulled at the zipper of her leotard with excruciatingly slowness, the gentle motion causing her to inhale sharply. As the zipper reached 'her' waist, 'Raziel's' hands went up to 'her' shoulders, hooking his fingers under the fabric and...
THUD
Raven's eyes shot open as she landed on her room's cold floor, her arms wrapped around one of her pillows as warmth started to fill her cheeks.Looking around, she felt a wave of relief wash over her as she saw that she was alone and more specifically, still fully clothed. Searching her memory, she frowned as the last thing she remembered was falling asleep in the snow.
'That's right...I still owe them for leaving me and Raziel there!' They could have gotten pneumonia, for crying out loud. 'Well, maybe not Raziel,' she thought idly as his unusual constitution (she still didn't think he fit the traditional definition of a Vampire as he seemed to believe) was more than durable enough to shrug off the cold, in her opinion. Her thoughts are cut short as the communicator in her brooch goes off.
" Raven?! Thank the stars you are awake! Robin is in most dire need of medical attention!"
" No, I'm not!" comes an angry retort from her communicator. " I'm just...resting my arm... " the voice mumbles, obviously still loud enough to be picked up.
" Stay still, man. You don't want to aggravate it. " A short scuffle could be heard before Cyborg's voice came back online. " We're in the med lab. Get here before he runs away! "
"I'm on my way," she replies almost mechanically. Right now she would take anything to get her mind off her dream.Smoothing out her cape as best she could (she wouldn't admit to it, of course but she still had her pride), she phased herself through the floor to where the rest of her teammates were. As she neared her destination she could make out some conversation going on inside.
"Breath deeply, Robin! Long, quick breaths!" Starfire orders as she held the boy's shoulders, much to his surprise and shock.
"It's a broken arm, Star! I'm not pregnant!"
Starfire actually looked surprised at Robin's embarrassed answer and so turned to a giggling Cyborg.
"Sorry, Rob. I couldn't resist."
"I'm probably going to regret this but 'couldn't resist what'?" Raven asks as she phased through the ceiling. She saw Robin glare at Cyborg briefly, the metallic Titan holding his hands up in surrender as he succumbed to The Look™.
"Robin fell and broke his arm chasing down some freak on a bike."
"I didn't FALL," Robin huffs in indignation. "He just caught me off guard, that's all." He flinched as pain shot up his arm when Raven grabbed it and gave it a jerk. "HEY!" he yells as the bone was reset with practiced ease.
"Right, and this is just a bruise," the pale girl intoned. "Hold still while Cyborg gets the cast." She had to fight back a smirk as the boy moped about while the cast was applied. Honestly, you'd think with all the times he'd been injured he would have been used to it by now. As the cast began to dry, she ran her hands over the injury, speeding up some of the natural healing process which caused some pain to shoot down her arm. Ignoring it as always, she continued to pour power into the injury until she was satisfied that it would heal much better.
"Now then, that wasn't so hard now, was it?" Raven mockingly says as she patted the cast. Walking towards the medicine cabinet, she takes a nondescript bottle out, eyeing the label briefly before nodding in approval. "Take two of these and don't call me at all," she adds, tossing the bottle of pain killers at the boy wonder. "Now then, maybe you can let us all know why we had to set your broken arm first thing in the morning," Raven droned.
At first Robin seemed hesitant at appearing weak in front of his teammates but under their combined glares he finally relented.
"…"
"I'm sorry, what was it you said? I don't think they heard you in the HIVE Academy," Raven deadpanned.
"I got careless..."
Raven listened as the boy wonder detailed his latest scuffle against Slade, the villain mastermind having knocked the teen off his bike during a high-speed chase which would explain the broken arm. She could almost see the steam rising from his head at being beaten as he finished his story.
"So long story short is that you leapt when you should have looked," Raven concluded as she let out a tired yawn. She really needed to get more sleep today but somehow the prospect of that dream coming up again was incentive to stay awake for now.
"Pretty much," Robin answered, much to his chagrin. "Well, I can't keep moping forever," he adds.
That shook the tiredness from Raven's eyes as she and her teammates leapt at Robin, pinning him down.
"You are not moving from this spot, Rob!"
"Yes! Please do not aggravate your injury just after Raven has healed it!"
"I'm just reaching for the remote!" the boy retorts. "Besides, I may have a broken arm but you should see the other guy," he adds, grinning as he flipped on the TV.
Sensing him to be actually telling the truth, Raven nodded to her teammates to release their leader. Something felt wrong thought, but she couldn't place her finger on it.
T-T-T
A blast of magical energy lashed out from a deformed hook, the target of the attack barely avoiding it as the bolt traveled in a wild pattern. Glaring at his opponent, he growled in frustration at his inability to retaliate given the precious cargo that he was carrying.
"HAHAHAHA! Not so tough now, are you, boy?" comes the jeering laugh from the sky. The man's eyes glowed with an eerie red light as he twirled the magical weapons in his hands. "Think you're all that just 'cause you're a Titan? Don't make me laugh!" Launching another bolt of energy at the boy, he grinned evilly as a powerful explosion ripped the ground where the blast hit. However, as the smoke cleared there wasn't a body to gloat over. Off to the side of the crater was a manhole with the cover ripped open.
"You little punk! You can run, but you can't..." His tirade was interrupted by a bolt of blue energy that slammed into his mount, his attention now focusing on the one who dared attack him. "Oh, you did not just scratch my ride!"
T-T-T
"If you say so," Raven answers guardedly, still wary of Robin being not so obsessive-compulsive. Looking outside, she noticed that the sun was about so high in the sky meaning it was still morning; plenty of time to get some sleep. If her reflection in the glass was any indication, she needed it too.
'Wait a minute.' Peering into the glass, she swore someone was floating outside but all she could see now was the shudder blue sky and flying seagulls. Rubbing her eyes, she took another look at the window but frowned as whatever she saw wasn't there any more. 'I could have sworn my there was something there. I must really need sleep,' she thought tiredly.
"If you're all better now, I'm headed back to bed. Call me when something important actually happens." Taking the multiple acknowledgements/nods as their answer, she phases herself back to her room with the intent of returning to her slumber. At least that's what the plan was before pain shot up her arm. Flinching slightly, she takes a slight detour to the shower, taking off her cowl and tights and tossing the old clothes into the hamper before stepping into the cold stream of water. The shower served two purposes really; to cool the warm feeling left over from her 'dream' (she still had no idea how to categorize it) and to numb her arm that had started to bleed. If someone were to walk in and see her now (at least before she killed them for walking in, in the first place), they would have probably thought she had cut herself. 'Not that I'm going to tell them what it really is,' she thought mirthlessly as the wound in her arm slowly started to close. Still, if she had any say in it none of her teammates would ever know.
Toweling herself dry, she gave a soft exhale of contentment. The shower had left her feeling refreshed and served to numb most of the pain in her arm; it would heal completely by the time she woke up, by her estimates. Since it was a quick trip back to her room, she didn't bother changing out of the bath robe as she returned to her room. Upon reaching it she immediately lay down on her bed and closed her eyes, letting sleep overtake her as she hoped that her dreams wouldn't be as vivid as the last.
T-T-T
'Where the hell is this?' a figure groused, the darkness only alleviated by the fact his eyes saw more than the average human. It was still dark, but at the very least not pitch black had he normal eyes. This little tidbit of information might have made him cringe in disgust at one point but today he had something more important on his mind. Breathing heavily, he willed his heart to slow down as he couldn't afford to waste any energy; as long as things remained as they were he wouldn't be able to address the situation at hand. As a few killer rats tried to nip at his heels, he kicked the few that got too close while flipping open the communicator on his wrist. "Please tell me his wonder willy is working again," he asks, not really expecting an answer.
True enough, no answer came. What he had thought was a sewer entrance led somewhere far beneath the city's foundations. Wherever it was, it was too far underground to get a signal out; that or the walls were too thick. In either case, the only sound in the tunnel, other than the static from his communicator, was the ragged breath the person behind him was taking. His face briefly became a mixture of grief and anger, eyes glowing brightly with power before once more becoming impassive. "Stupid girl," he huffs as he dashed down the tunnel. Given the way he came from had collapsed from the attack earlier, there was no other way to go but forward.
T-T-T
BEEEEEEEEP
Raven awoke with the sharp noise from her alarm clock. Looking at the time, it was already late in the evening which was odd in itself; she couldn't recall setting her alarm clock. Checking her arm, she found it fully healed with no indication it had ever been injured but she was still feeling weak and drained. 'Something's definitely not right,' she thought to herself. Healing something like that shouldn't have drained her this much and even then sleep should have at least given her a little feeling of rest. The growl of her stomach though reminded her that she hadn't eaten the whole day which probably explained her lethargy. Picking one of her many blue cloaks and leotards from her closet, she headed straight for the main hall for some food. As usual, Beastboy and Cyborg were arguing over their respective 'lifestyle choices'.
"TOFU!"
"MEAT!"
"TOFU!"
"TOFU!"
"NUH UH! MEAT!"
"And meat it is!" Cyborg cheers happily as he went about dialing for a meat-lovers pizza.
"Hey!"
Pinching the ridge of her nose, she decidedly ignores the two arguing teens and goes for her usual cup of tea instead of joining them in their debate. It really didn't matter to her too much what they ordered, as long as she still had her tea. The only thing she really disliked about her tea was the sixty seconds it took to heat water; it meant she would have to listen to them arguing for that much longer. Reaching for her tea leaves, she raised an eyebrow as the jar was nearly empty.
thump
'Didn't Raziel just bring back a new batch?' she thought. Speaking of which, she was beginning to wonder where he was; she hadn't seen him at all the whole day. The hiss of the whistle startled her, not realizing she had literally dozed off standing. Hiding the blush of embarrassment from her face, she poured the hot water over her tea leaves, savoring the gentle aroma that always relaxed her.
thump
Again something felt off as the scent felt muted...dull. Taking a sip of the hot brew, she expected the warm feeling to fill her as usual but like the scent it came up short and lacking. 'Must be an old batch,' she thought. 'I should ask Raziel to get more.' She had tried to get him to tell her where it was as it was of a higher quality than her usual source but he kept giving her that damnable smirk and 'It's a secret' quote that drove her nuts. Of course, she had allowed it to pass as he always seemed prompt about replacing it but now that she didn't have any the thought of it was starting to irritate her.
thump
Just like that thumping sound that wouldn't go away. "All right, who's been making that noise?"
"Err...what noise?" Beastboy asks, his spatula frozen in mid-parry with Cyborg's ladle.
thump
"THAT noise!" Raven answered almost hotly.
Starfire looked confused as she and Robin stood up from the couch, the TV playing a 'My Tiny horned horse' episode that she had started watching religiously since it began. "I do not hear anything, Raven. Are you sure that...?"
T-T-T
Just beyond the walls of the Tower, invisible to everyone's eyes, a plethora of figures hovered just beyond an imaginary border.
"OVER HERE, YOU IDIOT!" a figure yells as it pounded its fists on an invisible wall.
"C...c...could you not yell so loud?" another one stutters. She immediately shrank under the glare of the one she had admonished. When a second pair of eyes began to open on the person's forehead, she flinched as she waited for the inevitable pain that was sure to follow...after all, the world was nothing but pain and suffering and depression and...
"Curse you, invisible wall thingy! You can't stay standing forever! I'll show you my youthful flames burn brighter than yours!"
Anger suddenly being replaced by irritation, 'Red' immediately slapped a palm on her face as 'Green' began to let loose another flurry of martial arts moves against the barrier, her fists causing loud booms as they slammed into the invisible fortification; and all the while yelling about the flames of her youth.
"It's not enough," 'Yellow' comments, observing the ripples that Green's fists left on the barrier. "She has retreated to the recesses of the ego, constructing this false world for her to escape reality."
"This shouldn't be any different from the 'world' we created. Why doesn't she realize that this isn't all real?" Red counters, pointing an accusing finger at the blue-cloaked girl just beyond their reach.
Yellow simply shook her head. "Her mind simply could not cope with the sudden reality that struck her. It is that inability to accept which has caused her to retreat here, further down where even we cannot reach."
"But this is our mind. We are her and she, us. This shouldn't be possible!"
"But it is...because we are simply facets of a whole. She is the heart of it all which forms the crux of our problem. Only she has the power to break the illusion," Yellow answers, thoughts continuously processing behind her calculating eyes as she observed the scene inside the tower. Her eyes lit up as an idea came to mind. "Perhaps..."
"Perhaps what?" Red asks hotly. If there was one thing she hated it was being trapped and helpless, it was the whole purpose for her existence in the first place. "If you've got an answer then say it, dammit!"
Yellow took off her glasses in a rare move, pinching the ridge between her eyes as she let out a tired sigh. "It may simply drive her further down but I cannot think of any other way. We need something to make her reject this 'reality;' make her see this as not real. But we have no way of interacting with her so it is a moot point." Her eyes widened slightly as she saw her companion look introspective; it was never a good thing when she started thinking.
Red suddenly had an evil grin as the perfect thing came to mind. It was going to be painful for all of them but pain was nothing new to her anyway. Turning her glare to 'Gray' who was huddled in a little ball, she immediately grabbed the poor girl by her cloak, hoisting her to her feet as four glowing eyes bore into her. "You. Get depressed. Now."
"I...I...I can't get depressed like a sw...switch. I'm just a...a...useless thing...can't do anything right...just too weak...alone...always..."
Red had to resist the sudden urge to face-fault; that was even easier than she had hoped for. But it wasn't enough. She needed something that would shake the very foundations of the 'world'. "Remember the scene we saw earlier? The blood? The gore? No pulse. No life. Just pure and utter carnage," she whispered into her ear. She could feel her own rage begin to boil but she had to force it all down; the strongest reaction would have to come from Gray if it was going to be of any use. "Do you remember how we held him lifeless in our arms?"
"No...don't want to remember...please don't make me remember...didn't want him to go...didn't want him to die...had to do it..." The girl was now blabbering incoherently, her eyes unfocused as painful memories tore away at her self-worth.
"Perfect..." Red turned back to the Tower as she felt the wave of depression wash over the entire 'world'. Now to see what would happen.
T-T-T
"Must be Raziel," she grumbled to herself, walking off in a huff to find out where the noise was coming from. She was stopped by a hand on her shoulder from the Tamaranian.
"Raven...Raziel is dead. He has been for several days now. Do you not remember?"
In the silence you could hear a pin drop.
"Now that was just a horrible joke, Star. I'd have expected it from Beastboy or Cyborg but from you it just sounds silly."
Robin walked up next to Starfire, a somber expression on his face as he gave a small shake of his head. "She's not lying, Raven. Raziel didn't make it when we fought Johnny Rancid. His body was burned badly...it wasn't a pretty sight."
Raven froze in shock, taking a faltering step back before her face returned to its normal stoic look. "Ok, Robin, that's taking it a little too far. There's almost no way he could die. He told me himself." Turning her head slightly, she took off her cowl and pressed her brooch. "Raziel, I know you're listening so get your butt down here."
"Rae..."
"What is this, Cyborg? Pick on Raven day? This isn't funny so stop trying to fool me," she retorts with just a tad more emotion in her voice. She pushes her brooch again to activate the communicator built in. "Raziel? I said get down here." When no reply came, she turned to her teammates with an angry glare before stomping off to Raziel's room, all the while grumbling about inconsiderate teammates and their ill-timed jokes. Upon reaching Raziel's room, she stopped before pressing the 'open' button, a small piece of doubt settling in her mind which she quickly dismissed. They just had to be lying. "Hey, Raziel. I..."
The doors hissed open, revealing a room that looked like it hadn't been touched in days. Lying down pristinely in the center of the bed was a folded costume. Raven felt her heart seize as right on top of the costume was the charred remains of a red scarf and what appeared to be fragments of what was once a Titans communicator. She took a fearful step back, not believing what she was seeing; that was until the memories came flooding back in. Her mind didn't know what to do with the sudden rush of images so her body did the only thing it could think of.
It ran.
T-T-T
"I need to reconsider getting my own utility belt," a voice grumbles in the darkness, wishing that he had a flashlight or a flare. Even his enhanced sight was beginning to have difficulty seeing as even a night owl would have trouble with this kind of darkness. Deciding he had to risk summoning a little bit of energy, his glowing eyes providing just enough light to illuminate his way. Luckily nothing seemed to happen unlike when he tried to use his weapon.
'Guess the change wasn't just on the surface,' he thought dryly. Wherever he was, the place reminded him of the medieval aqueducts, although without the stench; how he knew what the medieval ones smelled like he didn't want to ponder though. Adjusting his grip on his passenger, he was still surprised at how light and fragile she seemed this way. Of course if she ever heard him describe her that way that he'd probably be dead before he could apologize.
"Stop..."
He froze in his tracks as the word slipped from her lips, immediately lowering her to the ground. Brushing the bangs from her face, he saw it was scrunched up as if in pain. Upon closer examination, his expression darkened upon realizing that she was still unconscious. 'But it doesn't explain her heartbeat,' he thought worriedly. For some reason she was agitated but he couldn't determine what was causing it. He both thankful and revolted by his ability to hear her heartbeat but it did him little good in this instance. All it told him was that in her current condition her elevated heart rate wasn't something that her body could handle.
The worst part was that he was sure it was he knew he was somehow responsible for her condition.
Another shockwave from the surface shakes him out of his thoughts, reminding him of the reason he was down here in the first place. Gently picking up her limp body, he continues down the tunnel, hoping that there was an end to this passageway. He could no longer tell where exactly he was beneath the city but as it was the only way to go, he really had no choice. As he rounded a corner, he stopped abruptly as he sensed a familiar presence close by. The sheer amount of power radiating from it was enormous. Normally not one to worry, he was sweating the proverbial bullets as he couldn't afford a confrontation; not now. Given that this was a 'one-way' tunnel, it looked like he wouldn't have a choice.
T-T-T
Raven ran. She didn't know why she was running but a large part of her just wanted to just get away from the sudden burst of emotions. Rounding a corner, she leans on a wall, forcefully lowering her heart rate as she brought her iron will back to the forefront. Her breathing still in hurried gasps, she tried to make sense of the sudden flood of memories that came to her head. In her mind's eye, she could see Raziel, his 'Reaver' drawn against some unknown foe. Arrogance. She also saw herself trapped in a sticky goo-like substance, the disgusting substance trapping her. Abhorrence. A giant purple dinosaur? Confusion. The next image to show itself was of a man riding a flying motorcycle.
Johnny Rancid.
Simply thinking the name sent a chill down her spine. She knew she wasn't afraid of him. She knew what fear felt like and this wasn't it. Yet still something about him threw her off. The next image she saw gave her all the explanation she needed.
Blood. So much blood. She could remember feeling sick to her stomach at the sight of it. But it wasn't hers. Try as she might to resist the urge to look, her mind refused to stop playing back the memory. 'They...they're right... He's...dead...' As much as she might try to deny it, by Azar, she had hoped it was false but the image was crystal clear. The blood had come from Raziel when he shielded her from the explosion caused by Johnny Rancid's newfound powers, his body falling lifelessly to the ground while all she could do was stare in shock.
She couldn't fathom why the image shocked her so badly. True, she had always been prepared to accept the death of her friends when the time came; she had even mentally prepared the most gruesome images she could picture but for some odd reason Raziel's was something she couldn't bring herself to picture or accept. In fact, the unease the mere thought of it invoked was something she hated and would do anything to prevent it from happening. That particular train of thought caught her attention though as a fleeting memory tried to make its way into her head. For some reason that particular fragment refused to show clearly; like it was being blocked for some reason. She couldn't help but give a brief smirk. Blocked memories were easier for her to access than most people.
Sitting down (and not really caring that she was in the middle of the hall), Raven prepared to enter her meditative trance; perhaps in 'Nevermore' she would find the answers she sought.
'Azarath. Metrion. Zinthos.'
For once she didn't relish saying her meditative words. It would probably evoke images she had blocked on purpose but she needed answers. Taking a deep breath, she repeated the words once more as she focused her mind on the inner sanctum she had formed all those years ago, awaiting the usual feeling of disassociation that followed. Nothing of the sort happened which was weird in itself; it usually took no longer than a few moments to enter Nevermore. Thinking she was simply too distraught to concentrate, she closes her eyes and empties her mind of all thoughts before chanting again. This time, however, things were vastly different as all around her reality simply started to break apart.
'What the hell is going on?!' Light started bursting forth from spider-web cracks in the floor, the ceiling...everywhere. She wasn't about to stay and find out what that light was so once more she began to run. "Starfire! Cyborg! Does anyone read?" she yells out into her communicator. To the credit of Murphy's Law, her communicator chose that time to apparently break down as no sound could be heard from it. There wasn't much time to curse the situation as the world continued to fracture around her. Much to her consternation, she was forced to run once more as being caught in one of those fractures didn't seem overly pleasant.
Everywhere she ran, the fractures seemed to follow her, barely allowing her the chance to catch her breath before they appeared at her feet. She couldn't even use her powers to phase through the walls as she wasn't sure how those things would react to her demonic energies. Finally reaching the main hall, she was both relieved that the door didn't have signs of the fractures, yet pissed that it was closed. Pushing the 'open' button, she frowned as the door failed to respond to her multiple jabs; that left only one option to open the door.
'No sense worrying about that now,' she thought dryly. Summoning her powers, the dark energies wrapped around the doors, steel groaning in protest as she literally tore them off their hinges while rushing inside. "Everyone! We need to evac..." Raven's warning died in her throat as she saw the room completely devoid of life; even her empathic senses couldn't feel anything in the immediate area.
She nearly collapsed to her knees right there had it not been for the crackling sound coming from behind reminding her of the immediate danger. Her lips pursing in thinly veiled worry for her wellbeing, she decided that her best bet was to get as far away from the Tower as possible. She prepared to blow open the windows to get some distance but before she could even try the fractures formed in front of her as well. Now completely surrounded, she almost laughed at the irony of it all; she came into the world alone and now she would die alone. That particular thought suddenly gave her pause as every thing began to fall in place; the muted sensations, the 'gap' in her memory, and the absolute lack of life that she could sense. Even insects would have been within the range of her senses if she really tried. Once more observing the collapsing reality around her, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. If what she thought was false, it wouldn't matter anyway if she had them open or not.
Seconds seemed to take an eternity as she simply waited. Most people would have been nervous with anticipation of something, anything, after seeing what she saw . Thankfully (or unluckily, as fate had it), she wasn't 'most' people. Within the next few moments the 'world' shattered, pieces of reality breaking like a glass window.
T-T-T
A blade of light pierced the concrete street, easily slicing through the man-made material like a hot knife through butter. It sank down once more before bursting forth multiple times in a circular pattern. As it sank one final time, a glowing ball of energy blasted through, the explosion blowing chunks of debris outward as the telekinetic burst continued skyward. A few moments later a figure leaps out of the hole, landing silently a safe distance way from the hole. It immediately scanned the area for any signs of danger, relaxing only when he was sure that there wasn't any chance of discovery.
Finally coming to rest inside a structure, what he surmised to be a former bus shelter, Raziel heard the sounds of carnage a few blocks away, now more violent than before as the sounds of clashing steel now filled the air. From the haughty laughter he could hear, he wondered if it had been worth the risk to make the deal with the proverbial devil. Feeling her pulse weaken once more, he recalled what he was told and forced more of his energy into her, the familiar tendrils of the Reaver flowing through their linked hands. Any doubts were then erased from his mind as her heart rate and breathing eased once more. Still, he didn't know how long he could keep doing this but he knew it couldn't last forever as he felt himself weakening already. It frustrated him greatly but until Johnny Rancid was put down he couldn't find a hospital even if he tried.
As he brushed one of her bangs from her face, Raziel nearly had a heart attack as Raven suddenly let out a loud gasp, her body shooting straight up as consciousness returned to her. "Raven!" He saw her eyes go wide in pain, a silent scream escaping her lips as she began to spasm. Her back was arched so much that it looked like she was going to break it. Unsure of what to do, he reacted on instinct, gathering her up in an embrace so she wouldn't aggravate her injuries further. The spasms continued for nearly a minute before subsiding completely, her breathing now returning to relaxed breaths. Slowly releasing the girl, he was both surprised to see her eyes looking at him with confusion before changing to undisguised relief.
"...Raziel...you're alive..."
"Which is more than I can say for you," the boy answers, gently setting her against a wall so that she was seated upright. "I've tried to heal you as best as I could but we need to get you real medical attention. With what's been going on I don't think we're finding a hospital any time soon."
Raven nodded weakly as she allowed her body to heal itself. At first she was afraid that this was simply all another dream but now her complete memories were available to her; she had tried to completely remove all of Raziel's injuries when he was struck by Johnny Rancid. Apparently she had succeeded, given her body's condition. She and would have shaken her head in disbelief if she had the strength; she could have killed herself attempting that level of healing on Raziel. Feeling her strength returning quicker than normal, she finally noticed the energy that was flowing into her from her hand; a hand that Raziel was currently holding. Her eyes widened as she realized what he meant by healing her. "Stop it...You don't..."
"Yes, I do. And until reality resets you'll take what you're given."
The tone of his voice brooked no argument so she allowed him to pour some of his life force into her. Raven knew that once he got an idea in his head he was even more stubborn than she was. How he had discovered how to force his life energy into her was something she would have to ask him one day but she knew that even he wouldn't do something so foolish unless it was warranted. Given her injuries, it was probably the only thing that had kept her stable while she was unconscious. With her empathic abilities, it wasn't hard for her to sense the concern flowing from him which made her feel a little guilty for making him worry. It was still partially his fault for making her act like that so it evened itself out. The sounds of clashing steel in the distance however shook her out of her musing as it sounded pretty intense even from where they were. "What's going on out there?" she asks, shifting her position to try to get a better look.
Raziel gave an uneasy look in the direction of the fight. From their current position, only the sounds and flashes of light gave any indication that something fierce was going on. "Let's hope it's something in our favor," he answers vaguely.
She felt uneasy about his statement as a muted feeling came through their physical contact but dismissed it as her mind simply still in shock. Flinching as she felt a few of her smaller wounds close up, a sudden wave of shock emanating from Raziel was enough to let her know her 'secret' was out; notwithstanding the fact he was staring at her with wide eyes. Slowly removing her hand from Raziel's she held it up to forestall any disagreement from him.
"I know you're wondering how I did that and before you ask how I know what your thinking, I'm an empath, remember?" Rolling down her sleeve, she revealed pale unblemished skin which was untouched unlike most of her body. "Most demons can feed off people's pain and suffering. It's like drug for them which is why they either seek it out or try to cause as much of it as possible. For me, it's a bit different."
Before he could ask what that meant, Raven's nail raked across his arm, a small cut appearing where it had made contact; he hadn't known her nails were that sharp. He barely had time to flinch when she placed her hand over the cut. As her 'healing' power closed his wound, he saw a painful looking welt appear on the same location on her arm.
Holding up the fresh wound, she looked him straight in the eye while keeping her own expression stoic. "Now you know my deep dark secret," she chuckles dryly. "I don't tell people about it because I'd rather they not worry about me. It usually heals on its own anyway so..." To her surprise, Raziel simply grabbed her hand again and continued to do what he had done earlier, restoring her energy at the cost of his own. "Didn't you hear what I just said? I'll heal on my own so stop...:"
"Do you think I would be grateful if I knew I was the one who caused you to die?"
The question caught her somewhat off guard. True, it was her own fault for exerting herself too much but this was exactly the reason why she didn't tell people about it. When people found out, they got concerned and when they got concerned they became too close to her and she didn't want them to get too close to her because it would just cause them to worry about her even more with all the secrets she kept; it would make things that much harder for her in the future. Unable to meet his gaze or answer his question, she simply averted her eyes as she really didn't know what to say. She barely had time to think of an appropriate response when Raziel grabbed both of her arms and whirled her around to face him.
"Promise me you won't take your life so lightly again!"
He was squeezing her so hard that she had to flinch in pain. Who did he think he was, lecturing her about that? The least he could be was be even a tad bit grateful that she saved his life. She was about to open her mouth to berate him when he whispered ever so softly.
"Please..."
His voice was quiet and even but the desperation behind his request was undeniable. In his mind, she caught an image of her bloodied and bruised body cradled in his arms and knew right then and there why he was acting so strange. She was a bit surprised that someone would care so much for her and a part of her was even grateful for his concern. It made her wish she didn't have to lie to him. Giving a 'hesitant' nod, she immediately felt the wave of gratitude wash over Raziel, his shoulders slumping in visible relief. She knew that she wouldn't be able to honor that promise but for now she would let him believe everything was all right.
Raziel, on his part, couldn't help but smile thankfully. He would be damned if he would allow anything to happen to Raven. She was probably the closest person he would call friend in the Titans and he would do anything to protect her; he owed her at least that much. The mood was predictably shattered when a magical shockwave rippled through the area, reality changing back from the dark and brooding atmosphere to the familiar bright and cheery streets of Jump City.
"Well, I'm certainly going to miss the décor," Raven quips, mouth upturned in a frown at the return of the 'good old' city. Rancid may have been homicidal when he got those powers but he certainly had good taste.
" Raven! Raziel! Do you read me? " Robin's voice suddenly chirps though the two communicators.
Seeing as that she wasn't going to be up and about any time soon, Raziel flipped open his communicator to respond to the boy wonder. "Raziel here. I'm with Raven. Took you long enough to defeat Rancid. I couldn't get a signal to anyone with what the psycho biker did."
" Well, we can thank Larry for that. Johnny Rancid got careless and Larry was able to take back his powers. "
" I'm just glad that that creepy dude didn't get the powers from Johnny before Larry did, " Beastboy adds.
Raven's eyebrows rose at the mention of a third party in the mix. Last she recalled it was only them and Rancid but given the changes that had occurred there was a high probability of some other villains who would try to take advantage of the situation. "Who was it?" she asks, hiding the obvious difficulty she was having just pressing her brooch. There was some uneasy silence before anyone replied. It was only Starfire who broke the quiet although she could tell there was some hesitation on her part.
" It was the man we encountered in the sewers before (1). He said that Johnny Rancid was not fit to be a god and that he would take that power for himself. "
" But Larry beat him to it! Larry did good! Wheeeee! "
Raven would have fought the urge to cover her ears if she wasn't already too weak to actually lift her arms. The sooner Robin's DNA buddy left, the happier her ears would be. Still, it was worrisome that someone who clearly outclassed them was active now. What is ultimate motive was they didn't know but now that he was showing himself it was troubling to say the least. Looking towards Raziel, she was that even he was troubled by the news and it took a lot to make him worry.
" We'll worry about him another time. For now, Titans, let's regroup at the tower. I've got an arm that needs fixing. "
A cheer goes up on the other end of the communicator before getting cut off, leaving two pale teens at the bus stop with a fair amount of dread.
"Think we should head back to the tower?" Raziel asks.
"I think I'll let you heal me up first," she answers after a moment of pondering. "I'd rather not appear like I went a round with Cinderblock." The whole situation felt almost normal to her, as if the entire incident with her and Raziel never happened. It was a comforting situation and one which she hoped would last just a little bit longer. Not that it mattered that Raziel was still holding on to her hand or anything. She just found it too much effort at the moment to change positions.
Or so she kept telling herself.
T-T-T
Much later, atop a penthouse balcony, a man was calmly sipping red wine seemingly without a care in the world. The moon was high up in the air, its pale light casting an eerie shadow on the floor's only occupant.
"I see you've settled in quite nicely here. Can I assume that this is all paid for?" a voice asks dryly.
The man turned to face his visitor, mouth turned up in a condescending sneer. "Of course. Its former occupant was more than happy to pay for the, how do you say, rent, for the year. I will admit that this is far more comfortable than my previous domicile as you are well aware." Placing down the wineglass, he stood up to his full height which caused the visitor to step back cautiously, his unease causing the man to chuckle deeply. "If I had wanted you dead, you wouldn't be standing here before me," he answers with a grin, one more suited to the cat that ate the canary. With a flourish of his arm, he motions for his guest to enter the suite. "Now then, I believe the matter of your promise needs to be discussed."
-To be continued-
Aaaaand I finally got it out! Woo hoo! I really need to budget more time to write. Unfortunately most of my ideas come out during the day when I'm at work The recent string of lay offs has made it a tad difficult to look busy while writing fanfic. :p Overall, I'm satisfied with the way this chapter has turned out. Not completely happy but I basically wrote myself into a corner a lot of times so getting it out this far was lucky for me.
Thanks again to everyone who's been so patient with me so far. Again, I do this all for the readers (now click that review button if you love me too :p ) As for the next chapter, I left a little hint in the interlude (previous chapter)