Author's Note: Wishing you all health & happiness. It has been a VERY long time since I posted to this story, and for that I apologize sincerely. It has always been my intention to finish it. Somewhere along the way I lost my connection to the story. However, when the Great Quarantine reared its tremendous head and turned everything upside down, I decided that it was time to finally finish this story. It has taken a while (months) to re-read and reorganize all of my notes across the multiple stories in this series, but I finally have a new chapter. I laid it all out in a bullet journal collection, from an outline of what had already been written to where I had intended to take it. There are a few more chapters to go, and I hope to have them done (relatively) soon. I already have some outlines going for the remaining chapters. Thank you all for hanging on this long. I appreciate it and hope you enjoy the story that remains. I estimate 2 to 3 more chapters past this one.
I'm picking up where the story left off, with Raven, Gar, and the gang camping out in Twilight Canyon where it all started. Jericho, inhabiting the comatose body of Brother Blood (Sebastian), just found the Raven from his soulscape out in the darkness. Or at least, she is trying to convince him of that, off all by themselves, as Raven and Gar have a heart to heart talk at the girls' tent. Until Jericho's companion decides to crash the party...
You can't let her do this!
Blood's soundless voice tore at Jericho as the smoke of traveling magic billowed around them. The sudden appearance of the Raven of his dreamworld had awakened the true owner of this body, but it was not the awakening that Jericho would have expected. Sebastian roiled with revulsion.
She wasted no time. Before he could breathe clear air, she hurled a bolt of darkness around them, slamming his companions - Bart, Vic, Sian, Charlie, everyone - to the ground. He braced for their return attack, but none came. Jericho heard only by the crackling of the campfire and Blood's voice crawling through his head.
That is not my Raven.
"They would stop me," she hissed as she staggered towards the tent where Gar and Raven lay, stunned and helpless. "They don't know! They don't know who she is!"
She stumbled over the fallen pair and glared back at Jericho's choked gasp. The night-black hairs at her temples were drained of color. Gray trickled down her locks as he watched, frozen with shock. She fumbled with Gar's jacket, trying to drag him out of the way, but her hands rebelled. She screamed in frustration, her fingers clenching and trembling as if she were being attacked by the demon of Arthritis itself. He looked back at the others for help. Victor, Bart, Sian, even Charlie… they were still crumpled on the ground like discarded rags. He couldn't tell if they were still breathing. Except for Blood, he was alone.
"Help me, Jericho!" Her face aged ten years as she summoned enough breath to pull on Gar's body again. He didn't budge. "I must have her! If you love me-"
Don't, Blood warned him. That's not her body. It's an older one, one returning to its actual age. And soon she'll be too weak to do anything about it.
"Who is she, then?" Joey growled the question aloud, but no one could hear him except Blood himself. "If she's not our Raven?"
Whoever she is, she is dying. Rapidly.
The woman spat at him one last time. She kicked Gar away and nearly tumbled over in the process. Numb with horror at his part in this wretched tableau, Jericho lurched towards the tent, fists clenched, ready to tear her away. A sudden kick to his back tumbled him onto his face.
"Got you," cried a voice that was all too familiar, a voice that shouldn't be there.
Jericho tried to squeeze out the word father but the kick had robbed him of his wind. As he scrambled to his feet, Slade slipped around and pinned his arms behind him, neatly controlling Jericho's movements while avoiding eye contact.
Give me my body back, Blood demanded within him as he felt his hands being forced into bonds of cold metal. Give me control. To save both of us.
"Be still!" Slade commanded as Jericho resisted the cuffs that would end any chance of helping Raven. "Be still, son. It's over."
No, it isn't, Blood growled. You don't know my power. I do!
"You're lucky, son, that I still need you to take me to the Book of Blood. Then you pay for Wintergreen."
No, no, Jericho wanted to scream. There was too much, too much happening all at once. How can he be here?
He followed us, Blood said. We weren't exactly trying to hide. Give me control!
How? Jericho could barely think as he struggled in his father's grip. You're in a coma!
Not if you're here.
Jericho held on, not wanting to give Blood control of his own body any more than he wanted to face his father, any more than he wanted this raging demon to murder his beloved.
This shouldn't be happening.
Jericho wasn't sure if it was his thought, or Blood's. He was gripped with the terror at the thought of the demon spiriting the woman he loved away, away where he would never find her.
Then do it, Blood. Just do it.
Jericho felt himself slide into the background, watching from a million miles away as Blood exploded out of Slade's grasp, tossing the man yards away and flinging the cuffs into the fire. Adrenaline pumped through their shared body; Jericho knew they were crouching, heart pounding, lungs heaving… but he could only feel it at the edge of his perception, through layers of distance.
The pale young man's slight build belied his strength. He aimed for Slade's throat, snapping his teeth, trying to get purchase. The burning thirst flared within him, so strong even Jericho felt it. Blood's purpose was clear… and he could only imagine what Blood would do with the power of the Terminator formula flowing through his veins. What a fool he had been! He focused on their shared legs, willing them to run or dodge or do anything but drive towards Slade, but nothing worked. Had he lost control forever?
Slade locked stares with Blood with his remaining eye; he must have sensed that his son was no longer in control.
A moment of contact was all he needed. Jericho jumped.
His father screamed out his name, even as through Slade's vision he watched Blood crumple and fold, like a paper doll that had outlived its play. Not if you're here, he had said; the coma still held Blood fast.
Despite his ranting, Slade was no longer a threat. He happened to be looking in the direction of the pair of Ravens. Jericho almost didn't recognize the white-haired demon that had Raven by the hair as she tore her away from her fallen friends. Muttering about needing the darkness and bent over with frailty that deepened every step of the way, she shambled and staggered and stumbled away from the camp. She stopped for a breath and gestured as if to slip away from them all, then cursed as nothing happened. She completely ignored everything but the prey in her trembling claws.
He willed Slade's body to pursue, but somehow Slade resisted him. Not enough to eject him, not enough to do anything but curse, but still Jericho had no real positive control other than to watch in growing horror as Raven was dragged farther into the darkness.
His vision blurred with a sudden slam to the back of Slade's head, and strong hands spun him around. Conner, recovered from the demon's initial attack, rained punches down on him. Help, at last, was at hand, and he was no longer alone. Seeing the blur of Bart behind Superboy, Jericho happily made the jump back to Blood's limp body. He was grateful that the coma negated any need for eye contact.
This has to stop, Blood howled before he even had a chance to settle in. And we are the only ones that can do it.
The re-possession of Blood's body seemed to reset their bond; they couldn't move until Jericho willed them to move. Together they scrambled after the Ravens, clambering over rocks to catch up with the limping demon. She was too distracted to notice him as he crouched behind a boulder a few yards away. His hands shook as he braced himself against the rock. The constant thirst burned his throat, and his gums throbbed in his dry mouth. His tongue flicked against Blood's - against his - sharp canines.
Do it, Blood commanded. Now!
"For Raven," Jericho hissed through a clenched jaw.
He crawled forward, willing himself into an emotional hole, hiding the sounds of his movement within the noise of the fight raging behind him. She was chanting now. Nightmare words that were harsh whispers and high shrieks all at once circled the air and punctured his mind. He hoped silently that this would work, that he could do this without injuring the helpless empath in the process.
One last bit of granite cover, then a mad dash across hard stone, and then the demon was in his arms. Before she could toss him away, his teeth pierced the flesh between her throat and shoulder. She howled as the sheer instinct of his host body drove him to swallow the hot blood gushing from the wound. Flailing her arms at Jericho, she released her hold on Raven's hair. He countered, grasping them with his marble-white hands, holding her still while he continued to draw strength out of her, while he felt the thirst demanding more. He could feel her every heartbeat in the tip as his tongue as he pressed it into the skin at her throat.
With his eyes clenched shut, Jericho heard the blood as it roared into him. His stomach lurched and twisted, but he didn't dare stop. He couldn't stop. All he could do was feel the skin against his cheek chill as he continued to swallow her strength in sips, then gulps. All he could remember was the nightmares in which he had seen Sebastian do this very thing to others.
The valley fell silent as she collapsed in his arms. He couldn't think about the others now, or Slade, or even Raven. That salty heat was the world entire. The pulse against his tongue grew faint. He struggled against the screaming thirst, until he finally broke free, drinking in the night air with a deep gasp, as if to wash the metallic taste from his mouth. He clutched the wilted form to him and opened his eyes. The thirst that had dogged him since he had returned to this wretched reality dissolved.
Gar was suddenly there, kneeling and cradling Raven's still shape against his chest. He looked up at Jericho with a mingling of terror and anger in his eyes.
"Joey?"