Disclaimer: TT not mine
This chapter...
"Speech"
Thoughts
Titans' Tower - overlooking the ruins of Jump City
Raven closed the door to the infirmary and turning, found Cyborg and Beast Boy looking at her. Her face was covered by the darkness underneath her hood.
"How is she?"
It was silent for a while.
"She will live," Raven said quietly, after a long time. "Her breathing had stopped but I managed to restart her heart and reconnect some of the damaged tissues. There will not be any permanent damage... but she cannot fight. Not for a while yet."
Stunned silence, then, "Wow. Raven, that's great! That's-"
She glided away without another word. The two men looked at each other, rather confused, but decided to peek into the room. Sure enough, Jinx was there, still unconscious, but breathing slowly, some color restored to the pale face. The door clicked shut.
"Raven," Starfire said from behind her as she glided down the hall.
The demoness stopped, wondering why the Tameranian wanted to talk to her, now, of all times. Doesn't she hate me? Of all the Titans, she was the one who disliked me the most...
"Raven, I am sorry."
"For?"
Starfire closed her eyes. "You must know this already because of your powers. I do not like you, but I wish you no harm either. Jinx-"
"She lives," Raven relied curtly. "And I am not grieving."
Starfire's eyes opened. "She is alive? That is wonderful! But surely you must have been-"
"I am fine, and so is she."
Raven continued gliding down the hall.
"Raven," Nightwing blocked her path forward, looking at her very seriously, trying to peek under the hood.
There was nothing visible of her face, not even the slightest light shone into the blackness. She shifted slightly, acknowledging his presence.
"Raven," he continued. "Don't do anything reckless."
There was no acknowledgement of that statement. Nightwing frowned.
"I know it must be hard. Trust me, I've had that feeling before-"
No, you haven't.
"-and that's why I know, you're going to do something, aren't you?"
I'm going to put an end to all of this.
"You are, right? Raven, please, don't throw away your life for nothing. We all need you-"
If you needed me, you would've shown it a long time ago. No, you've all been doing just fine all this time without me. Well, except Jinx. No, Nightwing, I have to put an end to this.
"You need to take everyone and get out of here," she said softly. "In the event..." that I fail. In the highly probably event that I fail. She took a deep breath. "There will be no stopping them. Tell the League to get off the planet and take the Titans and join them. Your resistance has to be elsewhere."
"And you?"
Raven said no more and phased through the walls, escaping his presence.
Back in the darkness of her room, finally in solitude... but there could be no peace. No, there can be no peace after all that has happened. Jinx... Her mouth curved downward. I was blinded by my own foolishness. I stubbornly refused to sense how she felt about it, only thinking about myself. So selfish! So stupid!
She resisted the urge to scream and instead threw off her cloak, laying down on her bed. Her leotard was stained with blood from the night's battle, but of course she didn't care. How could she care about anything else, except that girl, who lay unconscious in the infirmary, that girl who had nearly died protecting her... and she was fully ready to do so too...
Part of her was happy, so extraordinarily happy, that she finally knew that she did have a friend who was willing to stick with her through anything. No, she was not abandoned. But that feeling was fleeting, overwhelmed by the seriousness of the situation and by the sheer magnitude of her own stupidity. Blind! Blind! Blind! How could you be so blind to that?! She bit her lip until she drew blood - the pain left a bitter taste in her mouth, not at all unfitting.
She took a deep breath. And screamed into a pillow.
It must have been hours later, but finally she felt empty again. Not devoid of emotion, no, purely bitter, purely angry, mostly at herself more than anything else. And terrified as well.
"It has to end," Raven said softly. "Before anyone really dies. My life, or theirs... no, my life, or Jinx's..." She shook her head. She knew she wasn't strong enough, but she didn't care anymore. Before anyone else got hurt, I'll do all that I can do. This is my fight. Why did you all have to get dragged into it?
She was angry at fate as well, for having orchestrated such a turn of events, for bringing so much pain upon her, and upon...
Jinx, she thought a little more calmly, quelling her emotions. You were the only person who understood me, weren't you? You knew I would react like this, but you decided to worry about my safety anyway, even if you knew that it would mean me hating you. What did I do to deserve such a good friend. She paused. Nothing. I don't deserve someone like you, who worries about trash like me, placing my safety above your own. She sighed. I know, it may be selfish... it will hurt you, won't it? But I'm afraid that it's for your safety this time.
She got up, took out a pen and paper, and began writing.
Light flitted through her eyes. She blinked a few times and turned away from the window, sinking back into comfortable sleep. Her body hurt a bit, wait why did it hurt again? Oh yeah... those demons... I was protecting Raven... She sat up instantly. Raven!
Jinx threw off the blankets and rushed out of the infirmary. Running into the common room, seeing nobody, she guessed that Raven would be in her room and headed there instantly.
"Raven? Raven, are you in there?"
... silence...
Jinx waited a little longer, then tried opening the door, which surprisingly, was not locked. Where could she be?
"Raven..?"
She looked around, then noticed a piece of paper folded up nicely on the bed. Her eyes widened, knowing that it would not be good news, and she looked away. Raven, please, no...
Jinx approached the bed slowly and opened the piece of paper. Sure enough, it was Raven's handwriting.
Jinx,
By the time you read this, I'll be gone. Another night of that, and none of us would have survived. I have to end things on the other side. Alone. Yes, yes, I know, you're probably thinking I'm an idiot for doing something so dangerous, but I won't have anyone else risking their life for this. This is my fight, not yours. None of you deserves to get dragged into this, least of all you. Jinx, I... I'm sorry for being so cold to you. I thought that... well you probably know what I thought. And you probably know what I'm thinking now too. You were always good at guessing my thoughts. You probably know that I feel like shit right now, but I have to do this. Please, get somewhere safe and survive as long as you can. If I succeed, I'll make it back and join you. But chances are...
I'm so sorry, Jinx. Chances are, this is goodbye, permanently. I wish I could have said it in person, but then I'm not sure I would have had the strength to go. Farewell...
"No... you idiot! Why would you - ugh!"
She buried her face into a pillow on Raven's bed, crying into it.
Why do you always do this, Rae? No, it's even worse this time! You're going there knowing you'll probably die! What are you thinking!
"Jinx?"
Jinx looked up, wiping the tears from her face. "Nightwing..."
He put a hand over his face and sat on the floor. "She did it, didn't she."
Jinx turned away. "You knew?"
"She alluded to the fact that she might do it. I knew that it might be our only option, for her to go there and try to defeat whoever this demon lord is in one on one combat-"
"You knew and you let her leave?!" Jinx shrieked at him. "Nightwing, are you serious?!"
"I said might," Nightwing ran a hand through his hair. "She did mention that it was probably certain death for her, so I told her she shouldn't go. And today, I told her again, not to do anything too reckless. But she wouldn't talk to me."
"You knew..."
"I couldn't be sure. I didn't want to upset her. I warned her-"
"You didn't even try," Jinx's voice came out breathless, pained. "You don't care about her-"
"Jinx!" He said sharply. "You don't really think that, do you?"
"None of you guys ever have," she continued, face flushed. "That's why she left to begin with! Because she had no friends here-"
"Jinx, now isn't the time-"
"Then when is? When are you ever going to admit that you were wrong! No, it doesn't even matter anymore 'cause now it's too late..."
"Jinx, don't you get it?" Nightwing took off his mask and threw it on the ground. "It hurts me that she's gone too! That she's trying to sacrifice herself for us! But this isn't about us treating her whatever way anymore. She's gone now, and nothing can change that!" He pounded a fist into a wall.
"Then what do we do?" Jinx said softly. "At this rate-"
"What we can do," he sighed. "Get ourselves off of this doomed world and go somewhere else."
"That's-"
"Are we going to let her sacrifice herself for nothing? Jinx, we all know that we're going to die if we just stay here. For now, we have to do what we can."
"Run like cowards."
"That's all we can do."
Jinx closed her eyes and laid back. "I don't care anymore. She's gone-"
"Now you sound like her."
"Whatever." She looked up at the ceiling. "I guess I'll follow you then. No point in staying here alone."
"Glad to hear that."
Jinx didn't reply. She stared up, her expression hollow, bitterly depressed. Nightwing looked at her for several minutes, then got up and left.
Seventh Circle of Hell - Eclipse
A solitary figure stood at the border of the realm, no more than a shadow that blended in with the sheer darkness around her. The flow of magic through her suppressed as well, she was basically invisible, even to someone who might be looking specifically for her. She jumped down.
As a whole, the seventh circle seemed quite similar to the familiar eighth circle, the realm of ice, with its border a ring of mountains, these ones fully black, that reached high into the sky, a glowing border of pure magic surrounding that to seal off the dimension, so that no ordinary unwanted guests could enter, nor prisoners leave. As she jumped down, the realm gradually became level and buildings constructed of pure dark rock appeared, mostly unlit, save for a few with fires glowing from within. Jagged in design, taller rather than broad, they were clearly of demon making, probably the same as their inhabitants. She slipped by, unnoticed.
As she drew closer and closer to the center, the buildings got slightly larger, though not nearly as large as she would have expected. That meant one thing. Raven knelt and put a finger on the ground. As I thought. Most of these dwellings extend underground, some of them very deep, even beyond the range of my senses. She stood, sensing her surroundings.
Asymmetric, black buildings with few windows, these ones now more resembled spires than standard buildings, tall and thin. The top of each one was dimly lit with violet fire, barely casting any light on the land, though she supposed that demons of the shadow realm would not require light. Those fires, then, were for visitors, though anyone reliant on eyesight fighting under such conditions would have trouble. Luckily, I no longer have eyes.
She focused her senses in on a single building to see what was within. Highly ornate, the home of a demon noble evidently. Statues lined the halls, each with dim purple fire atop their heads, various carvings in the dark walls, fine furnishings, and as she traveled lower, through several spiral staircases, what appeared to be vast amounts of demon currency. Typical, the demon nobles were filthy rich.
It was rather ghastly from what she could sense; the absence of all light would have been better. Instead, the purple fire gave the place an eerie glow, creating distorted shadows everywhere, figures of darkness that were not really there, or maybe they were, or perhaps it was not the light but demon magic instead. She shivered.
Raven glided on, making sure not to be seen, though her black garb and suppressed magical flow made that nearly impossible. She gathered her cloak around her. It was rather cold. For some reason she had thought it would be warm so she had merely worn her leotard and a black cloak, but it was not warm at all. By human standards, it would be subfreezing. Not quite as cold as the circle of frost, but certainly cold enough for her.
The demon spires grew taller and taller, and probably deeper and deeper into the ground, the sheer number of them creating almost a forest of rocky pillar like structures, each one perhaps only a couple dozen feet in diameter, but reaching many hundreds of feet into the atmosphere, and an indeterminate distance below. She paused to catch her breath. Now that she thought about it, the atmosphere was quite dense, not like the air in the other demon realms, which was comparable to that of Earth's, if drier or colder. This one was very heavy, like a weight almost, perhaps several times as dense as Earth's. And as impenetrable as the ground was beneath her. Try as she might, she could not sense through the air at all, only through the buildings themselves. She could draw out her powers to increase her sensory range, but... not worth it.
She moved on. The spires grew denser and denser, obstructing her senses, almost as badly as the heavy atmosphere about her. It was as if she were stumbling around in the dark, which she was, but never before had she felt so confused or disoriented, not even when she had lost her eyes. No, here, all senses were distorted by the heavy darkness. She felt vulnerable, in a way she had never felt before; she felt completely unguarded. Something could pounce on her and she wouldn't even be able to sense it coming, if it had the ability to suppress its internal energy.
Further and further, closer to the center. There were powerful entities below her, very deep below her, outside of the range of her physical senses, but none that she couldn't defeat, none that would be strong enough to be Sonya. But then again, she remembered that Sonya was a master of hiding her presence as well, much better at it than anyone else in all of the demon realms, including the demon king, Shahaar, himself. Still, finding her should be simple enough. Just look for the biggest spire. That'll be hers. Then I can just find her there, or if that fails, make her come to me. Though, the thought of having to fight Sonya while fending off the attacks from her guards was not very appealing. Better to take them on one by one.
There was a screech in the air and she hid herself behind a nearby spire, unable to pinpoint the direction of the noise. She sensed something, a small mass of energy, but it was very fuzzy and moving very quickly; she couldn't tell what it was. It circled around her for a few moments, then moved on, evidently not noticing her. Well, she probably blended in perfectly with the sheer darkness, dressed in pure black as she was. Still, for good measure, she waited another few moments before gliding out.
Suddenly something tackled her, black energy that seemed to have emerged out of nowhere. She took care not to release any of her own powers and withdrew into her own mind for a moment.
Switch. You need to fight this one.
Got it.
Her teeth sharpened into fangs, nails lengthening into claws, and beneath the hood, her two closed eyes multiplied into four, though they remained shut - demon Raven's eyes were gone too. But that didn't matter. Despite her sleek form, her muscles had gained enormous strength, perhaps several times that of her human form.
As the thing leapt at her again, she dodged aside and mauled it, tearing into flesh with her claws, and as it fell, stomped on its back, driving it into the ground. The energy disappeared, but she felt the body still there.
It's dead. Will more come?
Maybe. You stay out for now.
Demon Raven stalked about quietly, approaching the center of the realm, where she finally sensed what appeared to be another ordinary spire, but judging by the grandeur of the area below ground, it was Sonya's residence. There were six entrances, it appeared, each guarded by two demons with extremely intense energy sources - they would be fairly powerful, not ones she could fight using physical prowess alone. There were guards around some of the other spires as well, probably the homes of other demon nobles; they appeared to be less powerful. Though, one could not be too sure in the disorienting darkness.
Each entrance was lit dimly with the violet fire, but if they were demons from this realm, they would probably be blind so her appearance wasn't the issue. Their other senses would enable them to detect her, perhaps even her energy signature if she got too close, so she would have to either trick them or fight them.
Well, it's worth a shot. I'll let out a bit of energy. Try to sound convincing.
What should I say?
I don't know. You're the demon, you should know better than I.
Fine. I'll come up with something.
A bit of power kindled within her, energy running through her cold body. She sensed the guards look up as she approached, but they noticed that she was not acting sneakily, no, she glided forward with purpose, as if only a mission. Of course, acting confident was the best way to allay suspicions about being an infiltrator.
"An infernal-" In other words, a demon from inferno, the sixth circle. "What is your business here?"
"A message, for the Queen Sonya."
"From?"
"Wrath, Lord of Inferno."
"Wrath is not Demon Lord-"
"He has declared himself lord with Lady Pride's betrayal of King Shahaar. We are to take orders from him and not Mistress Pride."
They did not call her bluff. Inwardly, she breathed a sigh of relief. She guessed that that might happen - after all, he was her brother and she could guess at how his plans might unfold.
"Very well. Your name?"
"Feu. I am merely a messenger. As you can sense, I pose no threat to you - or the Lady." It was true, the minute amount of energy that she had released probably seemed pathetic to them.
The guards looked at each other. "The lady Queen Sonya is not receiving messengers at this time. You understand, she is busy with war. However, there are others inside who she has designated to take your message. We will have someone guide you to them."
Demon Raven frowned. "I was told to deliver to the Lady alone. I do not wish to disobey my orders - Lord Wrath will have my head."
"Take it up with them, then. We don't make these decisions."
"As you say."
They opened the door and demon Raven glided inside. It was fairly spacious, some sort of atrium, or some kind of special hall designated for greeting visitors, clearly designed to impress - and terrify. The faceless figures on the black walls, the carvings, all lit dimly by violet fire, casting shadows everywhere, creating disturbing figures out of pure black, from light alone, without any sorcery involved. This spire, unlike the others, did not have any levels to it. It was a single floor, stretching up for the many hundreds of feet that the spire was tall, violet fire dotting the pathway up to the roof. From what she could tell, it was meant to mimic stars, and did so quite well, if one ignored the sinister shadows around them.
She waited patiently, then glided forward as a demon ascended from the staircase leading below, approaching her. They extended soulsevles in greeting, brushing against each other briefly. He frowned as they touched - Raven didn't think he realized that she was greatly restraining both her power and the amount of her essence that he had access to viewing, but he definitely sensed something off. Something about the power of her soulself didn't match the power that he sensed from her.
But apparently he would address those suspicions later.
"Well met, Feu. Come, we can talk as we descend."
She followed him down the staircase.
"I have been told that your message is for the Lady's ears alone."
"That is correct."
"Why? What is so important that only she can hear? Those that you are reporting to are no ordinary fools, Feu. They have been appointed by the Lady herself with this duty and are trusted servants of the King Shahaar."
"I do not know," demon Raven said gruffly. "I was merely given the message and told to deliver, no more." She indicated the red gem at her waist.
"Interesting. I have never seen such a trinket before. This can store messages, you say?"
"Indeed, it can. I was not told how it works either, unfortunately. You see, I am not very high in the ranks."
"Yet you were still sent for this duty?"
"My loyalty was judged to be adequate and I was the fastest among the demons that Lord Wrath approached with this task." Actually probably the fastest of all normal demons, maybe besides Sonya and Lilith.
It was silent for a while. The staircase ended and they drifted along that level of the underground complex for a little while, passing through a labyrinth of dimly lit halls, the violet light eerier than ever. Occasionally the space would widen into a room of enormous size, perhaps a gathering room or some sort of dining hall, but all completely empty. If anything, the absence of other demons disturbed her as well; she had expected the place would be bustling, filled with life as the center of the circle of shadow, but there seemed to be nothing.
"We have not seen another soul yet."
"Lady Sonya usually does not permit many others to enter her palace. I can assure you, the rest of the circle is not like this."
So he's trying to show off to a supposed messenger of Inferno, probably to try to assert that Eclipse's military might is greater.
"How much of the population did the Lady conscript?"
"A little more than three percent. And Lord Wrath?"
My God. They, in theory, could summon an army thirty times the size that they already have ready to invade Earth. And that's only one realm, and we barely put a dent in that army.
"I do not know," she replied slowly. "I am not told of such things. I can only guess, perhaps five percent."
A lie, she actually had no clue if Inferno had even been sent off to invade the mortal realm already, but she decided to humor the demon. Antagonizing him by bragging would serve no purpose.
"Ah. I heard that Inferno was devastated by the battle between Lord Trigon and Lady Pride."
"Not devastated," she replied smoothly. "Though a little shaken."
"Of course, that is understandable. How does the invasion progress?"
"Fairly well. They are merely mortals, after all. And your invasion? I was told that your army was invading a place called Earth. Homeworld of the Lady Pride."
"Our foothold is nearly complete. Earth's heroes have nearly all been defeated or have fled, and even the Lady Pride cannot possibly stand forever. You see, perhaps she may be able to survive indefinitely against the army, but by then the rest of that world will have been destroyed already."
"I am curious, though. What do you plan to do with its inhabitants?"
"That, I do not know. And Lord Wrath? I know that Lord Trigon enjoyed keeping mortals as slaves, but I do not know of his son's habits."
"He has not decided yet. I suspect he waits to see what the others do."
"A standard course of action in the face of uncertainty."
They descended another staircase in silence, moved around through another level, then yet another staircase. Raven lost track of the time, and of how far they had traveled through the vast underground complex, but eventually, they paused.
"Listen carefully," the demon turned to her. "Do you hear that?"
A faint horn call. No, not quite a horn, but something somewhat similar. It was fairly shrill and positively agitating, obviously laced with some sort of magic.
"What is that?"
"The call to battle. Light is gone from that mortal world, and so the Lady sends more of the army to occupy it."
It's that late already? I have to hurry. With that legion of demons on Earth, it won't take them long to find the people that have been hidden away.
They descended further and finally he stopped before a doorway. "Here we are. Two of the Lady's aides. You may explain to them why your message can only be heard by Queen Sonya. Perhaps they may grant you an audience with her."
"Possibly," Raven entered the room and the door closed behind her.
Two demon nobles, judging by their powerful energies, a male and a female, much stronger than the demon that had led her here or the guards above. Two demons that it would be very hard to fool with her ruse, especially since they seemed to be moving to touch soulselves with her. She readied herself, knowing that a fight was likely in order.
Indeed, as she brushed soulselves with the female one, her eyes narrowed and she hissed.
"Who are you? You are no mere messenger, are you? Speak!"
Switch out with me.
I can fight-
You know I'm better than you now. You're too reckless.
Fine. But don't blame me later when you get hurt.
I won't get hurt.
"A human-" they sensed her shift, demon features disappearing.
"The fools!" The female one hissed. "How could they not sense that this was no demon-"
"She is a demon," a gruff reply. "Part demon."
"Then that can only mean."
"Pleased to meet you," Raven growled. "I am Pride. Queen of Inferno. Well, former Queen."
"The Lady did suspect that you were against King Shahaar," an excited whisper. "She will be pleased when we present her with your corpse."
Raven smirked. "You two do not really think you can handle me alone, can you?"
"And now we know why you are Pride, among your sibilings. Come, if you are that much stronger than us, then show it!"
The male one struck out first, soulself flaring everywhere, surrounding her with its energy. He appeared behind her, formed a blade of pure black power, and stabbed downward. Without turning, Raven conjured a shield and parried the attack, counterattacking with her own energy. He disappeared and flashed to another area, striking again.
So he can teleport instantly to wherever his soulself is. A clever trick. As annoying as those demons I fought on Earth. But what if I attack everywhere simultaneously?
The air around Raven exploded with light and the demon was thrown back, skin faintly singed. He growled and his soulself spread out again. Behind her, she blocked it once more, but then the shield shattered and his energy sword penetrated through. Raven shifted to soulself form, but then suddenly, something disrupted her energy flow and she returned to normal. She dodged aside.
Her attention shifted to the female demon. So she can disrupt other soulselves with her own. A powerful offense, very effective against other demons. But I am only part demon.
Around her, bright fire spread out, dissipating the male demon's soulself and forcing them both to retreat. They hissed, eyeing her warily.
Of course. Demons of the shadows don't like light. In that case-
White light exploded everywhere, blasting the pair to the ground, then condensed into a ball in the center of the room, sparkling brilliantly, like a miniature star. The fire around Raven spread out further, the scorching heat burning the two demons slightly, even through their energy shields. And suddenly, the male demon appeared behind her, energy sword slashing down. Raven gritted her teeth and dodged aside, into her own fire, burned slightly as well when the shield of her soulself was disrupted.
How did he get behind me?
The male demon gritted his teeth and pressed the assault, but the speed of his teleportations was slower, leaving Raven much more time to react.
He must've send his soulself through my fire to get to me. That would've hurt, and he didn't even get much out of it. Lucky that I'm my father's daughter. High natural resistance to fire.
Flames spread out again, exploding in a conflagration of white, pure, intense fire that burned hotter than any ordinary fire, even as hot as a star. This time, Raven sustained the inferno with her own energy so that they would not die out with nothing to burn on. She sensed the male demon against one wall, burned badly, quickly losing consciousness, and the female demon breathing heavily, surrounded by a ring of fire, barely holding it back.
She sensed the door behind her open and another three energies appeared in her senses, powerful ones as well.
More demon nobles. Let's try something different this time.
Her soulself spread everywhere, engulfing them before they could react. The demon nobles resisted, trying to throw her off, but Raven could not be pushed back. Her powers bore down on them, an unstoppable force, ensnaring them in a darkness greater than their own.
Her voice broke through clear, powerful. "Demons of the shadows, what do you fear?"
Raven emerged through her own fire, drawing closer to them. "Even a demon noble has its fears, things that terrify it, irrationalities..."
A snicker. "We fear the yoke of those stronger than us. But you already know this, do you not?"
Raven paused, and the shadows dispelled. "Let me show you something."
The air around them changed and suddenly they were no longer in the caverns far beneath the surface of the realm of shadows, but flying high, high above all of Hell, looking down upon it. It spread out beneath them like several concentric rings, each lit a different color, with a gaping hole at the center marking the ninth circle, the Void.
The demon nobles floated beside her, powerless, bound by chains, bound by the force of her will.
"You think that because you serve Shahaar, you will be granted power, or dominion."
"Nay-"
"-Or you think that he will spare you? You only prolong your miserable suffering at his hand. When the mortal realm falls, what happens next?"
Silence.
"You know this well, don't you? I do not even need to say it, but I will. When all is said and done, he shall turn his eyes to you next, and those who resist becoming slaves shall be destroyed. Those who do not, they are doomed to eternity in servitude, in the deepest pits to which you have condemned those lesser than you.
They swooped down, through rock and flame, deep shadows, to underground caverns of lava, where light and heat began to scorch them. The demons there looked up as they passed by, pathetically, hatefully, broken and wearied. For even a demon could be broken by true Hell, burned constantly, without rest, without reprieve, for hundreds, maybe thousands of years. And in the end, they would all suffer the same fate.
"You know this, because perhaps even if you would not do the same if in his position, you have seen those who would. My father. Trigon the Terrible. Your Queen, Sonya, who would cast you aside without a second thought if it meant saving her own neck."
"She would do no such thing?!"
"Wouldn't she?"
Deep into the forest of spires, then down underground, where powerful, but invisible demon magics swirled about, only sensed as they flew by. Darkness took the form of a multitude of chains and suddenly lashed out, restraining them, dragging them down.
Raven broke free and rose up, looking down at the demon nobles. "I do not even need to break you," she looked away, disgusted. "You are already broken. You are merely robots, puppets whose every movement is controlled by those greater than you. You already know this, yet you do nothing about it."
"No! We will be spared! We-"
"Do you really believe that?" Raven turned back, eyelids opening, filled with power. "Fine. Then you might as well burn now!"
Fire struck down, scorching, burning, hot enough to incinerate the black rock around them, burning through layers of dark skin. But then they regenerated, and Raven sent down more fire onto them.
"You realize," she said coldly. "Despite what you think, I am not the oppressor. I will not kill you if you do not stop me. But if you wish to continue to be blind, then your fate is sealed, whether it is at my hands or at Shahaar's."
Fire burned around them, blazing into pure whiteness, then everything returned to normal, Raven's illusion vanishing. Back to the underground room, back to the dark spire. The demon nobles glared at her hatefully, but made no move to attack.
Raven frowned back, the fires around her dying away.
"What of it, demons? Will you continue to fight this pointless battle? Or will you allow me to pass?"
"You... are merely a girl, whelp... why should we listen to you?"
Raven spun around. "If you have a death wish, just say so. I will be happy to grant it." Flames lanced out, burning intensely into the male demon against the wall, burning him down to the ground. She extinguished them right before he died, leaving his body smoldering, barely breathing.
"You are too soft, Pride. You have the power to destroy us all, but you let us live, even though we are your enemies."
Raven turned back. "I do not kill unless I have to. Unlike the lesser ones, you nobles posses the strength to resist Shahaar's psychic manipulation."
"But not the power to challenge him, or even Lady Sonya. You have not seen, you do not know!" Suddenly there was terror in one of their eyes, and the demon pressed forward, grabbing onto Raven's shoulders. "It is all in vain! He is too powerful! There can be no way to defeat him, not even if all of Hell were to stand against him united!"
Raven brushed him off off, grimacing. "You know this well too. Those who are more powerful often have ways of making their power seem like it is greater than it actually is. Your lot often employs the same trick, do you not?"
They looked back at her coldly. "You walk to your death, Pride. It matters not whether we stop you here."
Her brows furrowed. "Then flee, you cowards! Save your own skins at the cost of everything in this world, and all worlds! If you do not wish to risk your lives, fine. They will be forfeit in the end. Remember that."
She stormed past them and slammed the doors behind her, gliding away. And then glanced back as the doors opened.
"Bound by duty, are you?"
"You will not proceed further, Pride."
"I thought you said it didn't matter whether you stopped me here or not."
No response. Two of them suddenly appeared behind her, but she was ready for that trick and her flames were already there, burning them, burning everything, overwhelming their powers. The other one drew back slightly, but Raven sent out a beam of white light at him and trapped him against a wall, piercing into his body.
"You are still cowards," she hissed, "even if you would dare to fight me instead of facing the wrath of your master."
"Death here would be better than facing him," another demon noble staggered out of the doorway, the female that she had wounded earlier.
"You are right. I am not that cruel. I will grant you all a quick death."
Light spread, and then they were all gone.
Raven winced. Had to put on a tough act. I thought I might be able to convince them to stop fighting me so I could conserve some energy but it didn't work out so well. She sat, catching her breath. I used up a lot of power there. It will take a little time to regain it.
"Feeling tired?"
She looked up, barely shielding herself in time as a sword swooped down.
"How can you even move with those wounds?" She gasped out.
"You may have burned my body to the point of death," he replied, voice quite raspy - she must've burned his vocal cords - "But that does not prevent my mind from working."
"Well, your assassination attempt failed-"
"Did it?"
Suddenly from behind her, darkness flew out from the wall, grazing the side of her body. She winced, feeling blood leak out, and dropped the shield, shifting into her soulself form. The demon noble teleported away, but she sensed where he had gone and followed quickly, spreading her flames out again.
"You missed," she said darkly. "If that had hit..."
He turned, like a rabbit caught in a trap, and looked at her dolefully, but hatefully, saying nothing.
Raven shook her head. I was lucky that he was too wounded to focus properly. That was really dangerous. He could have killed me if that attack was aimed better. Her body surged with power, but then she thought better of it and the flames died away. Light surrounded the demon's body, caging him in a prison similar to the one she had used on Trigon.
"I do not have the heart to kill someone as pathetic as you," she whispered, and glided away.
She felt her strength return slowly as she glided down further and further, though she opted not to close the wound completely, the pain in her side keeping her ever alert, wary of any attacks. The air began to bear down on her again, this time the work of demon sorcery, sapping energy from her, but not enough to tired her out. A mere annoyance. And a warning signal. I'm getting close.
With her powers active, she could sense further than she could before. Her face tilted up. Thousands of feet underground already. Tens of thousands? Or more... And down. Not much further to go. Wait... there was another staircase she was going to have to travel down, but for some reason she could not sense into it, as if something was blocking her powers. Well, something was blocking her powers.
Raven frowned, but went on. It was wholly dark now, without the violet fire. The halls had gotten wider and taller, with immense statues of various figures lining them, each with a sort of dish on its head - she supposed that the fires could be lit if necessary, but of course Sonya, being a demon of the shadows, would prefer complete darkness. She paused in front of one of them, one that stood in the middle of the hall, a figure of a demon woman in a cloak not unlike her own, long, jagged hair flowing out from underneath the hood, the lower portion of the face visible. It was many times taller than herself, maybe even a hundred feet tall, a majestic, if somewhat disconcerting figure. Especially since it reminded her of herself.
Of course, she knew what it was. Raven muttered a few words and pressed a hand to the black stone, feeling around carefully. As her hand passed by some areas, dimly glowing carvings appeared where there had been smooth rock moments before, words written in demon script.
An entrance opened in front of her. She tried to sense into it once again... nothing. An empty void. So I'm going into this completely blind. Very well. Descending one final staircase...
A pair of dark, reddish eyes opened in the darkness. She did have fairly good eyesight, a rather odd thing among shadow demons, but like the others, her other senses were far better. Much more useful here. Here... she sensed a figure descend the staircase. Here, she continued, a small chunk of the Void, which the previous Lord of the ninth circle bequeathed to me, after I asked him. Pure, perfect darkness, unlike that which you will find anywhere else. She held out her arms. The beauty of the place is that it's much larger than its physical size. Hauling a chunk of the Void over here is a taxing effort, of course, and only a little can be taken. This room actually is not very large, not even as big as some of the ones higher up. It has a floor, and walls, like any normal room, a single entrance and a single exit. But because it's the Void after all, these physical dimensions hold no meaning. I wonder if she will be able to handle it.
The eyes closed. I await your arrival, dear Pride...
Raven gasped as the staircase just ended, into what appeared to be an empty void. She summoned up her powers and began floating, feeling slightly relieved when they responded. She glided around cautiously.
How big is this place? I can't sense very far into it, but for some reason, I get the feeling that it might be... infinitely big?
The air around her was surprisingly light - she had thought it would be dense, like it had been above, but it was fairly difficult to sense into , at least with her physical senses. Probably because in the Void, things of a physical nature did not hold much meaning. She switched to her energy senses, and detected something in the distance, a dark mass of very slightly reddish power. A very powerful, very dangerous entity of magic.
She must have revealed herself, knowing that I am here. I guess she's that confident, huh. Raven took a deep breath. And let it out. Her hands were trembling, her heart beat unnaturally fast, she shook, with that knowledge, the premonition that... Jinx, I almost wish you were here. So that I didn't have to face this alone. But then you would die with me, and that would be...
No more hesitation. She started forward.
"Welcome," Sonya's voice was low and dark. "I see you've finally found my home."
Raven approached the demon queen, tense, energy within her flowing erratically. Sonya smirked.
"Relax, my dear, why don't we talk a bit?"
A frown. "And during the time that we talk, your armies are going to slaughter the people of Earth. You don't really expect me to wait here talking while that happens, do you?"
Light burst out, but was instantly consumed upon nearing Sonya.
"A little trigger happy? You realize, Pride, that your people are doomed, and so are you. Why do you hasten your own death?"
"I am not going to die here!" Fire, light, all sorts of power burst out, all blocked by the Queen of Shadows, dissipated by her soulself.
"You say that, but you don't really believe that, do you? You're positively shaking from fright-"
Sonya broke off as Raven appeared behind her, her powers flaring up wildly. She surrounded herself with energy, fending off the attacks, then reappeared. "My, my, you've gotten quite strong."
"But not strong enough to challenge you. Isn't that what you'll say?"
Sonya raised an eyebrow. "No. Overconfidence lies within the realm of humans. You are strong enough to challenge me it seems. But you see, I have some tricks too."
"Then let's see those tricks!" Fire, light, laced with darkness, rocketing forward. Sonya raised another shield, Raven did not stop her assault.
Hurling everything she had, feeling the shield give way beneath her attack, before finally, it shattered. Sonya reacted quickly, teleporting away, but Raven reacted faster, sensing where she had gone and fire appeared around the demon queen, burning her slightly. Then darkness spread out, dispelling it, lashing at Raven. She blocked it, and they were at a standstill again.
Raven frowned. All that and she escaped mostly unscathed. But... I managed to strike the first blow. She's... vulnerable.
The dark, crimson haired demon frowned. "Vulnerable, yes. I have always been vulnerable. You were just always too overwhelmed to realize it."
"I didn't imagine that I would be on nearly equal footing with you."
Sonya paused. "You came here, thinking that you would die? Well now, that's interesting. I would not have expected one such as you to throw away her life so quickly. Unless..."
"Save the talk for later!" Raven snapped at her, sending more fire out.
Sonya snickered. "I'm sure you realize by now that those attacks aren't going to work against me. You lack the raw power to bring me down. You know why?"
She suddenly appeared beside Raven, claws flaring with pure shadow, stabbing forward. Raven shielded herself barely in time, but Sonya managed to tear slightly through, puncturing Raven's skin a little. She winced.
"... It's because you're part human, girl. And humans will always be inferior to demons."
Raven's eyes narrowed, pushing back, but Sonya held firm. "Humans will never be inferior to those mindless, bloodthirsty killing machines that I had to fight. At least they have-"
"Love? Irrational, stupid, idiotic love? And what does that bring them? Pain. Lots of it. And you realize, it is much easier to control the mind of a human than it is to control the mind of a demon. If it were easy, then we would not have had to undergo so many preparations for this invasion."
"Love is not stupid! Just because you are incapable of understanding it-"
"And because I don't have it, I will beat you here." Sonya's eyes suddenly opened wide, and black energy engulfed Raven's body.
The demon girl teleported away, numerous cuts on her skin, all fairly shallow, but had she stayed an instant longer... Raven breathed out heavily, surrounding herself with her soulself.
"Weak humans," Sonya suddenly spat. "What do they know of anything? In the end, they will destroy themselves after enduring years of suffering, brought on by their own irrationalities. All we are doing is hastening that demise. Consider it mercy. Death without the torture."
"That's absurd. You know nothing-"
"Think about yourself. You nearly destroyed yourself because of your love for a pathetic human girl, did you not? You went to pieces, I know. Do not think that I am blind. I see more than you know. I know that she, too, was nearly overcome by her irrational love for someone who did not even care about her-"
"Shut up! You don't know anything!"
Raven lashed out, but Sonya was there again, catching her wrist in an iron grip.
"Of course I do. It is because of human folly, greed, pride, wrath, that they cause all of their own problems, wars, destroying everything they have made, and others have made, undoing much of their own work. Do you see any of that happening here?"
Raven shoved her away. "Actually, I do."
Her soulself spread out, engulfing them both.
Mindscape
Sonya floated above Hell, alone, looking down at the concentric rings, one of which was missing, the circle of ice, as she knew by now. She looked around.
"And what do you intend to show me?"
"Patience," Raven's voice echoed everywhere at once, like that of some omnipotent god. "This is Hell as it is now. You know this, of course."
Sonya looked down. Darkness spread out from the ninth circle, like some sort of festering disease, permeating the lands of the other circles, a mark of the usurping of power. Veins of pure void through the other realms, that would be Shahaar cementing his influence, she knew that much. Yes, that was very true. Miss Pride is not at all inaccurate. But does she think I do not know this?
"No," Raven replied. "I know you know this. I am also aware that even you do not like things this way?"
"Even someone such as I? Of course, Pride, of course. We demons prefer to be our own masters."
"Turn back the clock, just several years."
The land below began to shift, the circle of ice returned, the darkness infesting the lands receded, until at last, it was clean and whole, looking as it should be. Diverse, colorful, vibrant, compared to the current gloom overtaking all of the lands. Above, there was a storm brewing over all of Hell, one that clouded its skies and muted its energies, disturbing their flow, but as the time turned back, that faded as well. Everything was clean, and there she was, she could see, master of her own domain.
"I remember this. Shahaar was still in power, but his influence had not exerted so far."
"Something must have happened. He must have somehow gained an enormous amount of power. And quickly."
Sonya looked about darkly, but Raven was nowhere to be seen. She frowned. "You are drawing my from my memories and showing me this. But I already know all of it. What are you trying to do?"
"There must be a way to stop him. The only way to gain that much power so quickly is to be granted it by something even stronger, or with some artifact."
"Or by unlocking some innate, hidden power? Just as you did, Pride. You have not seen him. You do not know. He is far above us all. The only thing that prevents him from destroying your pitiful mortal world himself is the fact that his energies cannot so easily escape Hell. The universe itself prevents it."
"Then you are doomed anyway!" Raven seethed. "All you are doing is prolonging your life!"
Sonya's eyes narrowed. "I know that. All I'm doing is making my death, later on, less painful. I know his type. We all do. He will either make us his slaves, which I will not stand to be, or he will give us the option of death, but a painless one for our service to him. That is the end, that is the only thing we can all hope for."
"Or you can fight."
"You cannot fight when you know there is no defeating him."
"I can."
"But you are just a foolish human," Sonya's eyes widened and she laughed wickedly. "Perhaps your power is on par with mine, but your mind is certainly not. You've proven to be just as irrational as those pathetic worms which you so love. Choose from the best possible outcomes that you have, do not try to create some impossible outcome-"
"You are the fool. Can you not see it?"
Hell shifted again, and the festering disease of the Void was back, spreading out, infecting everything. The lands crumbled, replaced by the darkness of the ninth circle, and below, the lights of energy that were the powerful demons were each snuffed out.
Sonya was forced in closer. An image of herself, chained to a wall, naked, skin nearly burned off, cuts all over her body, and some sort of sick abomination, sticking a poker into a hot flame before pressing it to her abdomen, cutting it open, just slightly, so that she might survive and feel the pain, then another hot poker between her legs, pushing up, into her body, cutting open several organs...
"What's the point? I know this is not real. This won't happen."
"How do you know that?"
Sonya sneered. "You are trying to represent the actions of a being that you know nothing about and that I have knowledge of."
"I knew my father pretty well."
"Trigon may have had the right mindset, but he was not powerful enough. That is why he fell. Lord Shahaar, however, is different. Torturing those who served him really serves no purpose."
"Except to sate his sadistic pleasures."
Sonya laughed. "Except that he is not a sadist like your father was."
"All people of that sort are the same," Raven said darkly. "In the end, he will not care about what he does to you because you are merely a worm to him. Something to crush without a second thought, and if it can be entertaining while he does it, then all the better."
"I have had enough of your little game," the demon queen frowned. "I thought that perhaps you could amuse me, but you have failed even that task."
Her soulself spread out and the illusion began to waver, vanishing under the darkness. But then something stopped her and restored the torn areas, shifting the image again.
"We leave at my will," Raven's voice echoed. "Do not think you can escape so easily."
Silence, but she could tell that the queen of shadows was far from submitting herself to another round of Raven's illusions.
"You see," she noted carefully. "It is true, among demons, you are perhaps the most skilled at psychic assault of this nature, with the exception of Lord Shahaar, perhaps. But all psychic attacks that do not occur within the mind of the wielder generally have a weak spot. If you enter the mind of another, they have dominion, and it is up to you to exploit their weaknesses before they can use their strengths to force you out. If you are merely conjuring illusions, they can be dispelled. If you are within your own mind, then a counterattack is possible as well. And a mixture?"
A smile, a dark smile. "You are merely using my mind to create images of memories and events that I had buried. All I must do is acknowledge them and they will disappear."
The illusion vanished.
Raven frowned. "That image of you being tortured was not something I had created. You imagined it yourself."
"The thought had crossed my mind that that might happen... were I to betray Lord Shahaar. Fortunately for me, I decided not to. That fate, however, is yours. Unless I decide to kill you here." Back in the darkness, the black void.
"Tch." Raven hissed in frustration. I didn't think she could break out of my illusion so quickly. I planned to keep her in there for longer, mess with her mind. But I've barely done anything and she knows how to deal with it. Maybe I should just send her into my mind and deal with her there.
"A very risky plan, my dear," Sonya appeared behind her.
Raven teleported away as dark claws swept down, then faced her. "Then you suggest something."
"Give up and die."
"I don't even need to reply to that." Raven shifted to soulself form.
Sonya evaded the Raven's attack easily, then tried to counter, but found that her energy merely phased through Raven. She frowned. That form is annoying. Judging by its energies, it is impossible to harm her normally, except with extremely high density energy blasts. Unfortunately I was never good at those. Those were Trigon's thing. Luckily... she shifted away. Its attacks are slow and she doesn't seem to have access to any of her normal powers. In that case, it's just a stalemate. And she doesn't want this fight to drag on.
Sure enough, after a few more attempts, Raven shifted back to normal, fire spreading around her. Sonya appeared directly behind her again - Raven retaliated extremely quickly, predicting the movement, but the instant her flames burst up, Sonya was gone, appearing in front of her. A feint!
She barely reacted in time, feeling energy cut into her arm slightly, but in one smooth movement, turned her dodge into a counter attack and sliced at the demon queen's ribs. Sonya drew back, bleeding slightly.
"Wretch," she murmured spitefully. "You struck me."
Raven smirked. "You said I was a challenge to you, yet you didn't think I could wound you? Who's the prideful one now?"
No reply. Instead, black energy spread out, flying toward Raven. She blocked it, but felt it press down on her shield like a huge weight, threatening to break through. Sensing her energies breaking, she quickly teleported away, then dodged another blast. A relentless assault, not unlike the one she was used to doing, but she knew from experience how tiring it could be. As soon as Sonya stopped firing, then would be the time for her to attack.
Raven ducked, then winced as an energy bolt grazed her leg. But there was no time to look down - instantly, she had to teleport away again when another bolt nearly impacted her chest. She reemerged, shielded herself, knowing an attack was coming, and waited, patiently, her shield thinning and thinning, but still holding. Then at last the attacks stopped and it was silent for a single moment.
Now!
Raven shifted forward instantaneously and light burst forth, piercing Sonya through the side. The demon queen collapsed forward, onto Raven's shoulder, but then a claw came around and stabbed into the girl's abdomen. Raven coughed out a mouthful of blood, bending forward as well. Then they disengaged.
Sonya wiped the blood running down from her mouth away, eyes sparkling darkly. Raven remained hunched over, clutching her wound.
"Not bad," she whispered. "Not bad at all, for a human. We are trading blows evenly. At this rate, we will both perish."
"That's enough for me," Raven gritted her teeth, teleporting behind the queen of shadow.
The attack predicted, Sonya stepped aside and caught her wrist, bending down. Raven's face contorted with pain. She tried summoning her powers, but they would not come - apparently the demon queen could disrupt her soulself with direct contact.
Switch out with me! Hurry!
Her nails suddenly turned into claws, her eyes multiplied, teeth becoming fangs, skin turning pale red. She wrenched her hand out of the demon queen's grasp, lurched forward, and slashed down, grazing an arm. Then felt her wrist throb painfully.
Sprained, but not quite broken. That was close. Switch back?
Her demon features faded.
"Looks like you don't quite have the physical prowess of a demon," Sonya said quietly. "Not without abandoning that pathetic human form of yours. But then in terms of pure demon sorcery, you are weaker."
"All this talk of pathetic humans," Raven hissed. "And you've proven to be no better. Now that I think of it, you fight like I do. You get scared when you get hurt, you resort to petty insults when you see no other way of winning, you cower in fear of those stronger than you, knowing that they will snuff out your life like the light from a candle but serving them nonetheless - no, you're worse than me. You are just as bad as those humans you speak of."
They both teleported once more, clashed briefly, then drew back.
"I think you've forgotten one thing, Pride," Sonya replied darkly. "I hold no irrational love within me."
"You love nothing but your own life-"
"Perhaps. You on the other hand, are willing to throw away everything you have and everything everyone else has for your petty love. For that human girl. I believe her name is Jinx, is it not?"
"What about her?"
"Don't you remember?"
Sonya's soulself spread out. Images appeared of that time, when Darkseid had come, her realization that it was Jinx who had told the League about her departure to Hell, that sense of betrayal, lost trust, detachment from everything, the emptiness within her soul when she thought that she had not a single friend, nowhere to belong.
"Of course I remember," Raven said, her voice low. "You think I'd forget? I already know that I was a fool."
The images disappeared.
"You never learn, do you? Your love for this girl has made you do all the most irrational things. You forsook that world of humans, lost your will to live, you became a vegetable for some time, doing nothing, being completely useless. You have come here, knowing of your own death, only because you realized something you should have seen all along. And only because you don't want one, pathetic, little human to die, you would throw away your own life to try to save her. You even lost your eyes because the mere thought of her distracted you-"
"You were watching my battle with Trigon?"
"Of course I was. And do you know how disappointed I was when you let your guard down because of that pathetic human? You act so mighty, Pride, as if you are on par with us, but you are no more than a little girl at heart, whining endlessly when she doesn't get what she wants."
"You know nothing," Raven spat, and they clashed again. "Perhaps I was foolish. No, I was foolish. And blind and stupid. But desiring to protect someone else-"
Sonya pushed her back. "Irrational to the end. She will live and you will die in her stead? What nonsense. You know full well that after you die, there will be no one left to defend them."
Raven moved forward again. "I thought you said that my fight was hopeless to begin with. Shahaar is too strong."
Sonya snickered. "Indeed I did say that. But you realize that coming here was the worst possible decision. Now she will die alone, without your company, the person she cares about most in her world."
Raven's brows furrowed.
"Did you think of that? I thought not. You see, Pride, you are the worst. You have all the folly of irrational human love and all the selfishness of a demon. You only care about how you feel, and not anyone else-"
"Don't compare me to you!" Raven pushed her back, infuriated. "I am nothing like you. I am not a coward-"
"Aren't you? You may think your fight is noble, but all you've done is basically commit suicide. Isn't that what it is? Engaging in a fight that you know you will lose."
"I am not running away-"
"But you are!" Sonya bore down on her, forcing Raven downward. "You are running away from protecting those mortals because you know that you cannot. You know that you will only fail them, and your precious lover."
"I will not fail them! I will stop you!" Raven pushed up.
Sonya slashed downward with her claws, but Raven teleported away. The demon queen looked at her darkly. "But not only are you running away from the duty you have set yourself, you are running away from dealing with your own wild emotions. The realization that the thing that you had sought for your whole life was right in front of you the whole time, but that you were blind to it, shunned it because of your irrationality - that realization. You are running away from dealing with that, aren't you? You did not even say a word to her before you left."
"I - that has nothing to do with you!" They clashed again.
"Much as you hate to think of it, Pride, you have messed up, badly. Not only have you failed to protect them, but you have even failed to fulfill your own emotional satisfaction, and hers. Now both of you will die, bitter, and alone. A far worse death than the one you predicted for me."
"Shut up," Raven whispered harshly, intensely.
Sonya snickered. "And now that you clearly cannot argue any longer, you resort to the most childish method. Trying to tell me not to say any more. You've realized your folly-"
"Shut up," Raven hissed, pressing back, flames burning around her intensely. Sonya blocked the attack, drew back, then taunted her once more.
"Worry not. I will send your broken body to your dear lover so that she might be reunited with you in death. At least you will have peace together in the next life-"
"Shut up!" Raven screamed and the fire around her blazed pure white. She rushed forward in a tempest of light, and everything exploded once she reached the demon queen.
The light faded. Raven breathed heavily, then leaned forward, against the demon queen's shoulder. She had struck a massive blow, cutting deeply into Sonya's flesh, leaving her scorched, bleeding badly. The queen of shadows drew back and touched the wound that ran across her body, from nearly her neck to her waist. And then smirked.
Raven's eyes flew open in shock. A dark blade, piercing straight through her chest, through her heart from what she could feel. She fell back, feeling her senses fade. Blood pooled at the corner of her eyes and ran down her face.
A cold look. "I told you. Irrational human love. Perhaps had your attack been less straightforward, less of rage than of careful thought, you might have beaten me. Well, I knew your human side would be your undoing."
Raven's body dropped, dropped through the void until it reached some sort of floor in the middle of the blackness. There she lay, bleeding out, as the demon queen approached her. Sonya stood over her body, looking down, the expression on her face inscrutable.
"What... are you... waiting... for..?" Raven rasped out hatefully, painfully. "Finish... me..."
Sonya said nothing and brought one last wave of energy down.