Hello! :D
The college life is great (so far) and I'm happy I've had some free time.
I'll edit this tomorrow. I'm so ridiculously tired x_x
-Anii
Chapter 26: "This is how it feels when you're bent and broken. This is how it feels when your dignity is stolen."
- Not Gonna Die by Skillet
Raven collapsed on to solid ground in a quivering heap, her chest heaving to clear the fog surrounding her mind. She lifted her head, swiping the beads of water that dripped too near her eyes, to put a face to her savior. The mistress of the Lake was bent over her, her blue fingers tangled in Raven's sopping wet cloak.
Vivienne sat back calmly on her ankles, her back straight and her face pained despite all her attempts to hide her agony. She pressed one trembling hand firmly against her abdomen. Thin trails of blood seeped from between her fingers and dripped down her hand lazily.
The empath's eyes widened and she scrambled to reach out to the bleeding woman. "You're hurt. Let me see-" she rasped between pants.
"Raven." Vivienne whispered, her throat clenching from the pain.
The beautiful woman squeezed her eyes shut, taking a deep breath that seemed to steady her shaking body. Her eyes snapped open; anxiety, fear, and sorrow swirling just beneath the surface of calm and regality she was trying to display.
Raven moved to help the woman stand but bloody blue fingers coiled around her wrist firmly. The woman's voice was deep, revealing nothing but still managing to force Raven to listen carefully. "You must warn your friends. I pray that it is not too late."
"Too late? What do you mean?" The drenched teenager asked, her lip trembling the slightest.
"Aqualad has killed his mentor and slaughtered my nymphs." Vivienne gave Raven's captured wrist a squeeze, whispering fiercely "He intends to kill many more."
The air rushed from Raven's lungs. She couldn't force herself to look behind her at the dead bodies of the pure-hearted nymphs. "Aqualad? Aqualad did this?"
Vivienne's lips pressed into a thin line but she indicated her affirmation with a curt nod. A feeling began in the empath's gut- as if someone had jammed a hand into her stomach and yanked out any organ it came into contact with.
She felt like vomiting.
She felt like screaming.
She did neither.
The violet-haired Azarathian lowered her head until her chin was nearly touching her chest. "Where is he?"
Vivienne released Raven's wrist and placed it gently back in her lap as if she weren't bleeding profusely from her torso. "Do not worry about that now. You must warn your friends."
"I need to save my friend!" Raven snapped, already shaking the water from her clothing as a warmth began to roil in her stomach.
A crease formed between the Lady's eyes as she pondered this pensively.
Raven knelt beside Vivienne and placed a hand to her bleeding stomach. Blue light leaked into the jagged stab wound. "I wish I could have done more for the others." The Azarathian whispered softly, noticing the gleam of tears in the mystic woman's eyes as she spoke.
Without further aidou, Raven turned to leave the cave.
"Raven," The Lady called, her voice revealing the underlying fear and grief the injured woman no doubt felt. "Please be safe. I fear what Aqualad has become."
••••••••
-Ivy-
The delighted woman let out a joyful sigh as she tussled her curled locks and fanned herself lazily. "Why is it so stuffy in here?" She asked no one in particular.
She'd been quite disappointed by the Atlantean king's throne room. It was nothing but a bare cave without a single leaf, or even patch of moss, to be seen anywhere. How depressing.
Off to her right, Bane stood silently, his eyes watching her every move intently. Goth was otherwise occupied and Malchior was dead to her. Siren stood impatiently to Ivy's left, her chunky boot tapping against the smooth floor.
When the red-haired hybrid glanced at the fidgeting mermaid, Siren simply rolled her eyes and curled her lip back in a snarl.
Ivy nearly snorted with laughter. Such a little brat.
One tight curl broke free from the rest and Ivy hooked it behind her ear, shifting in her newly obtained throne. She quickly swung her leg over the other, bouncing her leg absently as she dropped her head against her fist lightly.
What could be taking that aquatic hunk so long? She wondered, puffing up her cheeks playfully and exhaling slowly.
Her toy was proving quite useful. Her green lips twisted into a smirk as she recalled the taste of Aqualad's lips against hers. He'd been so easy to trick- so easy to tame. She'd lured him quickly and taken her chance, planting a kiss on the unsuspecting young man's lips before he could even react.
Her spores had done their job and immediately seized hold of the man, poisoning his mind and making him malleable. Her new plaything wasn't like the others. He didn't defy her like Malchior or piss her off like Goth. He was almost as perfect as Bane.
"How long are we going to wait!? We have Atlantis! Why are we sitting on our asses!?" The young mermaid cried, throwing her hands in the air, making her buttons clatter noisily.
"Shut up." Ivy hissed, rolling her emerald eyes to convey her utter annoyance with the ignorant child.
Siren's lips screwed into a pout. "We have the Titan leader and Atlantis. What the hell else do you need, Ivy?"
"If you needed to know, I'd tell you." Ivy replied, speaking as if Siren were an imbecile. In many ways, she was.
"Mistress."
Ivy bolted upright in her seat, her face lighting up as she spotted the approaching Atlantean, his inky black hair dripping with salty water. "Have you done it?" She asked gleefully.
He dropped to one knee before her, bowing his head low as if she were a queen and, he, her knight. "The seven Titans that gathered here today to seek protection were killed, as you ordered."
The thrilled plant-human hybrid clapped her hands together. "Perfect!"
She hopped out of her seat, her heeled shoes clicking against the hard stone beneath her boots. She squatted down, her knees clenched together tightly, and moved aside the boy's black hair so she could look into his eyes.
He lay on his side, hands bound behind his back and feet tied together tightly. He was a bloody mess and was struggling even to breathe.
She'd known he was awake the entire time- trying to listen in on her conversations with her partners. The fact that he had tried to fool her made her laugh. "Did you hear that, Boy Wonder?"
His brow creased with anger and she saw the muscles along his jaw ripple beneath the skin as he clenched his teeth together.
She tilted her head to the side, speaking in a playful tone as if he were an infant. "We're going to squash your little gang." Her face twisted with anger and she continued, venom dripping heavily from every word she spoke. "And there's nothing you can do about it."
He wasn't happy about that. Not that she cared.
Ivy straightened, staring down at the bloody mess lying at her feet but speaking to her new toy. "Bring the Titans here." The boy's eyes widened and stared at her with open horror. Ivy couldn't help herself; her lips parted in a wide grin. "I want you to kill them in front of him."
-End Ivy-
••••••••
Raven couldn't look her friends in the eyes as they stared at her, horrified and angered by the facts she'd relayed to them.
"Why should we even trust this woman?" Terra scoffed, referring to the Lady.
"Robin went to visit Aqualad." Cyborg glanced at Terra from the corner of his eye, his voice was low and steady with an underlying tone of pure rage. "And he hasn't come back. What more do we need?"
"Why would Aqualad...?" Beast Boy's voice was small, his face clearly displaying the raw betrayal he certainly felt.
Raven made a sound of disgust as she sighed heavily, poised over the main speaker that could reach all Titan communicator's simultaneously. Her hands shook as she pressed the button, alarming all communicators. The communicator's in the room chimed all at once and, one by one, faces appeared on the screen. The trembling empathy opened her mouth, intending to begin the warning.
Her words however failed her and her head hung low.
A hand clapped down on her shoulder and she turned her head to discreetly glance at Cyborg, whose voice boomed loudly. "To all Titans, be warned that Aqualad is no longer on our side."
Some faces blanched, others remained blank. Some Titans gasped, others didn't make a sound.
The robotic man conveyed all that they knew, telling everyone to be even more careful. As the faces blinked out, Cyborg gave the thin girl's shoulder a squeeze, sending her as much comfort as he could muster.
"We'll find Robin." Cyborg promised, his eyes on Raven but his words reaching out to everyone in the room.
••••••••
-Robin-
The air was stale.
He was so used to the overwhelming scent of blood that he could no longer smell it. The red liquid had spread out so far that it encircled the chair Robin was secured to. His throat was raw and, when he opened his mouth, nothing came out but a straggled wheeze. His body felt numb and devoid of all emotions.
Sweat and tears stained his ghostly pale face. Looking at the bodies no longer made him weep. His eyes were dry and his body calm as his gaze roamed over the corpses strewn across the floor, laying in pools of their own blood. Without disgust or despair, he stared at the jagged slits in the throats of his friends. Robin had expected to see frozen expressions of horror on each of their faces but he could only see a peaceful look on every still face. He'd never seen someone so savagely murdered before today.
Aqualad's hand had been steady as he deftly dragged the thin dagger across each and every victim's throat, nearly severing the heads from the necks altogether.
Robin stared at nothing in particular, his gaze blurring as his focus turned inward. Even with the bodies at his feet, Robin couldn't bring himself to rally all of his strength and spit or curse or scream. He didn't promise revenge or let rage consume him. He couldn't.
It wasn't his nature.
He wasn't Batman.
He couldn't let his revenge sweep him away and block out his conscience. He did, however, feel a renewed desire to stop Ivy and bring peace back to the world. He wouldn't be squashed out of existence without a fight. Ivy's attempt to beat him down and make him a revenge-driven man had failed.
-End Robin-
I really hope to do a Bane POV soon. Would any of you like to see a POV from a "bad guy" other than Ivy? If so, who? -Anii