Teen TitansThe Chaos Round-Part Two Between Worlds, Against all Odds

by Inkblot24

Our heroes' plight continues as the Chosen's promised vow to a daemon of manifestation is tested -he's forced to fight his own sister to the death, an old enemy resurfaces, and a bond that could unexpectedly save his planet, is brought into question -find out the rest in part two! The chaos round continues, here!

6. Chapter 6

Teen Titans; New Generations; The Chaos Round – Part Two; Against All Odds – Chapter Six: Should I Surrender? – Dreaming a Little Dream – As the Fates Allow.

/

Raku heard the sound of water as he awoke on the hard, cold floor of his cell. This was not the first cell he had ever known. He'd been inside plenty as a dark prentice to the Witch of Babylon. As a traitor, a wretch… Shock dotted his features, as his seventeen-year-old body had disappeared. He looked at his hands, his feet. All were as before the transformation. It was only by his magic, not…

He was not alone. Eris, Medusa, and the shifter imp Charl, all had their eyes locked on this boy now behind bars. His legs would not rise to meet them. He'd only broken his promises. The enemy was he, and only he. He had made them, because he'd openly fed his power to his Madame…Lilith had tamed it, his ability to create was tainted then…

~Roku was supposed to no longer have control. Why? ~ He did not speak, for Eris would only grow by that fear poor Raku failed to keep to himself. He'd created another face as they drank, as she had a real adult face herself. Not the poor blonde she had overworked, yet the dark eyed and haired goddess of untold calamity.

Eris entered the room and saw his dismay; he would feel it deeper than any knife to the skin. Just as she had a dozen fangs inside that….

~Are you comfortable, now? ~ As Eris put on a happier face from her victory, she need not be, too emotional. He was going to do her plans a plus.

Raku did not bother to disobey and nodded a quick yes to his captor. She looked satisfied, yet.

~ Good…~ Eris smiled as her comrades joined in on the other side of their guest's new cage. It was as if he were sealed inside a ball of red energy. One that kept him immobilized and weak. Roku used to know that trick, he however, did not…

With a hand to her hip, Eris stepped forth. Coming even closer to get a good look at her prize.

~ You could be smarter, older, better as before. ~ She took to the liberty of eyeing him, like an object. It felt, invasive but…He could not oppose.

She studied how he stayed to close to the ground. Too noble to grovel. She wanted a power – source to sap dry. It was his destiny to become her next, big bite. He looked full enough, but he was obviously fooling her vision well. His true source of magic was somewhere else; between this world and the next. As the golden gem that was her apple of chaos, she vowed it. Eris wanted the whole share. With nothing left to pick and chose from remaining.

~Better, nay…I was never. ~ Raku shook his head and looked down at his knees. His head lowered towards the earth below him, outside of the illusionary prison that was his magical memory. He would have to apologize, he had to recall…

He rose his head up to seek out Eris's expression. ~ I was Chaotic as a monster, not a god –

~Well, that is true. You were like the mortals, partly. ~ Eris swished a light strand to the side as she nodded by her prisoner's confession. ~ If you wanted, I could break you of the fates' bonds. Once and forever, you would be an all - immortal king, before facing my chaos for the throne. The throne, of Earth. ~ She implied that he was no good to her like this; a whelp who could become boring by lunchtime. Not a worthy morsel. Nothing but bones to pick. He used to have a complex time - line, a real cherry on top of events that lead away from the child's backstory. He needed to whet her appetite, personally.

~I won't give you the time of day, sadly…~ Raku felt his cheeks become hot as he planned out his own ending. ~ I have those to protect, to show that I am still –

~Worthy of YOUR redemption? Oh, the woe to that story! The great Red Dragon is no more! Even my lackeys enjoyed your company. Despite the many bruisings you gave… ~ Eris added with a clearing of her throat. He would give his power up, or she'd take it from him in his sleep. Where, was Hypnos? He was missing all the fun!

~ I cannot let him out again. ~ Raku shook as he tossed his eyes to the side, feeling all of that betrayal; reading it out as if it were his death – age.

~ Why? Just this one time? I can destroy it, if you want to die with your humans…Just, know happiness like this, comes with a price –

~You are not a demon, Eris. ~ Raku exclaimed as his words poured out, made him realize that she was in danger herself. Turned by something else. This plane, was it killing her? No, it was definitely well before her arrival. She'd always been a vain and spiteful child. This was only amplified by another factor he could not face…

~ I know it. I am better than YOU. Oh, and…that, Dragon - boy? ~ Eris cocked her head a bit as her tone mellowed, making him think of her as a sly vixen. If not a fox with eyes in the back of her head. Or the face of a finicky angel escaped from heaven.

~ You tried to harm me, body and mind. ~ Rake state. ~ I won't care if I kill the you which became that which you desire. But I won't kill, I was ordered to refrain… You are hurt, whether you live in your world or the dead - lands. ~ He added, with her words a sting of truth to them. ~He was still no better. ~

~ Lilith only lasted because I allowed her to be at his…. That being's side for so long. It was not what –

~You will never surpass the master, in any timeline. ~ Frowned the goddess. She then turned to her companions. With a sniff, Eris had enough of being talked down to. Her father would be the last to command the goddess too do anything she did not want.

~ Charl? Make sure our catch is comfy a bit longer. I'm off to greet one more…~ She'd let the lackeys tear her prey apart. He'd be tender and supple enough to undo soon. As soon as she had her part two of the equation in hand.

~What? What are you after? Eris! You must stop this! –

She turned around, shaking with her fists as fiery now as her temper. To now, he was being blamed for opening old wounds. Her crew saw this and shrunk back away. All, all but Medusa who understood well a woman's biting shame.

Raku had rung her dry of waiting to say it. Here, was here and now. The way through catching fire.

Doors that could not be shut so lightly without her hate to burn them clear away.

~ Little boy? Do you realize how a woman feels when she's dragged underneath you so sweetly? Do you realize how her heart dashes away, how it pines for order and kind words? You? You liberated my demons. ~ She snarled and was not willing to pull away. Not when he'd wanted her bare truth.

~When you'd stolen that part of myself from the womb's very essence! ~

Raku was unable to speak, however her eyes were wetted by such tears. He too wished to know how to cry. He couldn't, which made the boy's faults that much more agonizing, and he reaction, so much more upsetting to watch.

~Your snakes were unkind – such, vile things that undressed every part of my being - all of those dunes, how they never shifted as you TOOK me…~ She cradled her arms and swore under her breath. Her knees rocked as if this, goddess was no longer safe.

Still, Raku could not say anything. Th…Roku…That king, had tainted the maiden in exile…Made her run away into the night with blood where it was not needed. She was, once HIS prisoner…His, lay….

~I…I am…-

~Don't…! ~ Eris knew that a worded apology was rather shallow. She had no hope for a fix to her bleeding self of long before. He was past due, as was she at finding her voice.

~You were a musky dragon. ~ She said with an unwell tremor in her voice, a nervous grin there meant to hide her true pain. ~ I was no more that a nereid to satisfy your…cravings….~

She could not finish. Gasping with a whimpering stutter, Eris fled. She wept and ran from the room, sobbing uncontrollably. Her body did not forget, her mind was too weak. Even with Ares protecting her, she was afraid for that man to rise again. To entrap her where her screams all died down below into the earth's lower crust.

Charl gawked at the display and turned to his former lord.

~ A murderer. Yet, what in his name have you done? ~ He had never known of this story. Only of Sayumon and Roku tainting the fox as he would have any good - doer.

Eris was a borderline evil. That was, just painful to imagine.

Medusa spat at the ground by the cage of this former dragon. He was, detestable! Eris was one of her kindred! How vile! Of human blood, his should have remained dormant.

~I no longer idolize the gentleman whom I…Believed was of right intent for YOUR kind's benefit... ~ Huffed Charl, as he stifled back a sniffle. He had once called Roku his 'lordship.'

He now, was unable to see this beast as royalty. An ogre – a Ra…. He stopped himself.

He could not think clearly, so he left Medusa to watch over the Goddess of Chaos's prize. The dirtied prize. The disposable royal.

The room was quiet. Water dripped down from pipes on the ceiling. The walls stunk of sludge and rust. The old city, which was now in ruins.

~They are not aware. ~ Medusa sat cross – legged to the ground, facing away from the unstable power – source. ~ My kin are guilty of this act. Yet, a child of the gods being poked is why we run. When Persephone was taken, the same applied to them then. Hades was sent such glares. I was one of the few who watched from afar. Even Iris, she was beautiful. Now, she is as another –

~Tsani, I am told. ~ Raku nodded slowly. ~I…Back then, I wanted to bury the memory of my madness, yet could never –

~ You loved to draw in victims to your power. When what you truly desired, was to be alone. ~ Medusa sighed. ~ As a prophetic child, the snake was my power. It aided in my growth. By rite. And…You? You stole those souls from their beds and ate them whole. Just to please another, and then yourself. ~She gritted her palms and tried to remain in control of her venom – drenched mane.

~ I cannot apologize this time –

~Why would that save them here? ~ Medusa hissed with a twinge in her neck. Anger in her veins, with plenty of hatred in a past life.

~ You are right…I crossed a line, not the dragon. I was the criminal. Not he –

~Stop. ~ Medusa growled. ~ YOU are HE-

~No! That was! –

~Blaming alter – selves for your crimes, that is why we are to despise the ground you walk! ~ She turned to his direction as her head swiveled round. Her body on all four limbs like in a Japanese horror flick.

~ You call him nothing as YOU are. So, pure? You dreamed of your death, and the world's execution! ~

~ I was trying to … –

~ You are not well, you are dead! Embrace it. My queen was touched by you, not the dragon –

~Stop! ~ Raku could not brush it off. Alters…. They, were not by Lil, but by his manifestation craft. Chaos in form…. That was…

~Roko…She is still –

~ She's here to take your life as well, seeing as you brandished her soul long ago into doing the bidding YOU expected of all your selves combined! You killed your son; you raped your wives! Despicable beast! ~

That part was too real. Raku had not forgotten how Lori's syndrome had turned her into his…And, of Queen Catalina? Her real husband had been by far the most unappetizing.

A pit in his immortal stomach began to rear its ugly head. A dull ache. He'd done as Verra to the real, dying, Takahara Shoji. He'd cut the first out of existence to have his bounty in it all.

Catalina had not only found out, she'd cast him out, along with any memories of her dead husband - who the dragon, had taken from her.

Or even as a child, when Lady Priestess Shanti's eyes had been ruined by a sharp blade, by Lilith's decree he had taken her sight away.

Or of course, A's child, who he'd brought into being. Only to lose his leverage when the boy wonder Robin, had stolen his prisoner from him…

He had just toyed again with such power. With the lives of innocent beings... Never used it wisely, and this was why he could suffer. Would be forced to now grovel… He, however…Refused to do so until the world was put back together.

No toys taken from their boxes, their shelves ripped bare from the walls of space and time. A clear, orderly angle in which one could roam safely. A place, that did not exist to him and maybe, Medusa was teaching Raku to realize that.

No. He WOULD break the hold Eris had. She was turning, just as he had done. It could be un - done, as Aiden had the boy to realize.

~ Compassion. To let go…She will be hard to trick. She is unstable and I, caused it. ~

~Is my Queen worth harming a second coming? ~ Snorted the gorgon to her prey. ~Queen of Chaos she may stand, yet Eris is young always. For the lives of immortals are illogical to you; those who die and breathe no longer once having departed from this plane. ~ The gorgon stated, ever so bluntly that humans were perhaps the odd ones. As she only had her history of them painted in black and white since the beginning.

~It will not be I, but –

~If you dare to try your luck…~ The daemon mistress let out a low hiss in warning.

~I will personally kill all that is left of you for your precious Chosen to bear witness. Do you not realize? He is still within this world –

~Aiden? ~ Raku excitedly jumped up from his knees. ~ He is alright? How do you know? -

~One of my Queen's siblings is there, testing the waters. ~ She replied and stood a bit to stretch her limbs. The floor was too cold, it was summer in the human world, since time seemed to move along without a stopwatch.

~They will defeat him. ~ Aiden would have sought the same outcome. He would have wanted to save his family. Aiden. Was his family, right?

~I imagine he does not realize what you have committed. Why Eris lives because of your old ends; it is no mystery. She does not want to rot, not until you've been absorbed as many potential power – sources. What a vengeance it will seem. ~ Medusa sighed lazily. ~ The lady shall sleep soundly knowing that her abuser is no more a threat…~ She looked the brat up and down with a sniff.

~You had best save one or the other, he WILL discover the truth soon. The fates decree it to be so. ~

Medusa was no Raven of the Titans, yet she had the ability to see. An ungodly foresight. In her plane, she'd been an oracle who told ills or tellings for a price. One babe or maiden for a prophecy. It was good business, until a demi – God (unlike Raku) had entered by her shores to know of her face. He'd sent her head careening into the air as a fish to the home in which it would return to. A flying waste of a prophet's fate.

Heracles. A true bastard.

Even knowing that Raku was no less a threat until his contracted came to break this former king free, she still knew of these, kings. Of how they could be such animals without a leash to tug them back into having some sense.

Feeling and logic intertwined here in this human world. She'd seen how the mortals drove from place to place, got into fights in pubs on occasion, even made love that lasted far longer than an arranged marriage. Without a ring, without vows.

It was unsettling to her eyes and ears. Also enticing. Which was why she wanted Eris to get past her pains and eat the dragon whole until she was rightly satisfied with her plan.

He was holding them back. Once the queen of Chaos had her craft as full percent, Medusa too would not need to keep her 'pets' fat off of rat corpses for much longer.

She could not wait to taste that sweet nectar of war, for her snakes' hearts beat madly with an ecstatic desire to do what was to be done, just to have Eris's vengeance be her own.

/

Living in the sewers may have been a downer for team Alpha, but Beta?

~I believed this witch to know a threat when she saw it comin'. ~ Cybill had needed back up, as the tides had turned with Cici's evolutionary new drones; having risen dead – walkers from the shadows, the dozen upon dozens gave Slade a chance to work a few steps away from the absorbed witch of Crescendo origins.

"You kids can stay here and play all you wish; I have more important tasks to complete in the meantime." Slade had noticed that Ares's control had weakened. He'd not been bothered by Cici's craft either, which meant there was time to contact an –

~Where are you going? Can I join in on some of your fun? ~ The echo was not pleasant as Slade looked around himself blindly. The voice was young, boyish. It had to be.

~I was waiting to catch your eye, Mr. Tiger! ~ The boy spoke of Slade with a voice that bubbled to house a realm of emotional torment and discontent with his former family, friends. And he knew that Slade also wanted out from his life serving a widowed witch.

The grin of white light came from the darkness, a face plastered white, already at its peak in mourning of a lost soul. Its face had signified by that lone wolf's entrance, a satisfactory smile that bordered on glee with a sick sense of sadism – enough to make Slade back away slowly from the devil hiding in the dark.

He wanted no more bargains, and no more false hope to get ahead or away in a moment's –

~ You pick, pick, pick and what do you find? Unhappy, forever? Just as I? I am a white rabbit, Mr. Tiger! –

"You don't offer me anything, but I do offer my condolences." Slade saw the being with a lithe build and an acrobat's mind to contort in strange places, as…Unsettling as he did try to not tire already of its pestering.

His grief was real, and toxic. It had made this demented spirit fragile. He was the youngest and had probably had his older brother with him since being summoned to the plane of Earth. If Eris had any sense, she would try to straighten out her own community of enforcers before…

~They went out of their minds, against her orders and reeked vengeance against others dreams, instead. ~

~I hate it when no one sees…You, were a loser like me…You lost and never decided to kill. You were a deserter to your soulless ambitions…. My brother and I, were once whole –

"You were also not as, questionable as this." Slade seethed under his breath. His cloth mask as Deathstroke, was his only shield against the Gemini twin's ideals. The metal one was collecting rust from his last battles with the New Gen Titans. How he'd been kicking himself over having to do away with it – in the end game of earth!

~Fine! You use me, I, you…What does it matter to I? My brother is dead, your lovely wife has rejected you, over and over –

"How do you know about that?" Slade snapped at the dancing clown. The music had stopped, as the pert little figure suddenly froze up. He stared from the side in his pose; a hand to his brow as he pushed back his white locks from the daemon's two eyes.

His legs playing on 'peddling the feet' from a yoga video that had been popular in the day. He turned his head only to the side as he kept his luxurious mane flowing from behind.

~I am a Universal, trapped in this existence thanks to him. ~ The reply was without a real emotion now, very almost, monotonously said.

Grief was a terrible consequence; it had infected the boy daemon like any illness without a known cure. His going from a smile to a frown proved that these beings had lives like humans did. They were in fact given life BY humanity.

Eradication. Slade looked into the lifeless eyes of that walking dummy and saw a child with nowhere left to go. He would not be its keeper. Roko's obsessions had been draining enough. Death was the only way back for this brat, before his denial led to…His destruction in totality.

"Am I supposed to care about you? Are you insisting on a partnership, then?" Slade wanted to hear it from the horse's mouth.

~Yes and no. ~ Replied the jester. ~I will use you to have Eris remain a victor, then we will take her power and I will kill off Kaien and any one –

"Not much off a plan, you are too angry to care about your brother finally resting peacefully –

The jester's face was soon full of malice as his limbs catapulted him overhead the assassin's skull, upside - down with his cloud magic not as powerful as his brother's natural affinity to change the weather.

The stars, planets. They cascaded as illusions about Slade's eyes. It made him dizzy, though he could still stand up and fight, unlike before on Titans Tower.

The twin rained down bolts onto the man in his wake. He didn't want to let this man's taunts fluster him, yet they had. So much, for his brother would NEVER rest! He would waft about inside a void of nothings!

~He cannot dream again! He CANNOT rest!How can you be so insensitive! –

"Because I kill when men ask for it, I don't care who they are. I don't care what they were before their deaths…" Slade rushed to the side and deflected a bolt by grabbing a nearby trash can lid. Dark allies had a ton of tools for an unplanned combat strategy.

The bolt blew right through the can lid and sent it careening with Slade into an opposing brick wall. The slash it left across the ground was as if a strike had hit the pavement directly.

~Moon and suns alight! By the gods, you will do unto my law or be destroyed! ~ The bereaved twin catapulted two more bolts before finding higher ground. Slade decided to do the same and got to work in beating some sense into the twin of the star sign Gemini.

He would not be outmatched by a juvenile figment of Greek and Roman Mythology!

/

Aiden saw how Chris had lost his hold on himself; how Hati had walked among them this whole time, and Ava had undoubtedly, had believed in Chris's change of heart too soon.

Aiden's big sister was once his protector, but she couldn't even protect herself! This Barrens, whatever – Neverland, had messed her up…Her sense of self – worth was lost, as was Chris's own voice as he went off to try and pin Ava to the ground.

"Haaaah!~ The veil was breaking as Kori saw to Hypnos's ruse. She would be damned if her ode as a parent and mother had no meaning left in it. She was no longer shining in example. Ever since her children's' awakenings…But enough was enough. Her power – bolts splintered the walls of the tower as Cy covered up Aiden and Raven's heads with enough of his bulk. Gar fell into the habit of becoming a clam in order to shield himself out of shock.

~Changeling!' Go, get the Titans! ~ Cy shouted through the crashing rubble as a floor toppled by Kori's unbridled, inhuman strength. Nodding, Gar changed and turned into a cat. Dashing off down the next hall to warn his fellow comrades of the shaky situation.

All while Kori went after Chris; who could change to his male form, then back again in a split instance, to his astral wolf self, just to prove to Starfire or Arianna that he could take Ava to her destiny.

That HE could tame her magics by himself. That HE was the only creature she trusted to do this.

~My daughter is not your prisoner! ~ Good thing too; Kori had known what it meant to be sold off without a will to one's name. In this way, there was more she could teach Ava about trusting your heart and mind. She only hoped it was not too late.

Aiden dashed over past Cy's strong arm, screaming for the kid to come back. He was ashamed that he'd not noticed before. How many times had Chris died? Had Ava just let the mourning period pass her by every time? Was she not cold, but afraid to lose anyone like he was?

The wolf came back to stop Aiden, while the prince in his male form held his own against Kori, leaving the brutally disoriented princess, unguarded.

Aiden brought out his sword and turned up the heat, it was enough to have the wolf come at his hand first. Pummeling the eighteen-year-old to the floor as his gloves and arms took a foul beating from the wolfs claws and jaws. It stung, like frostbite that could put one to sleep forever.

~She is not your queen! We shall make her rise to meet her glory! You are a distraction! RRRRAAA!~

The wolf bit at Aiden's arm harder and would not let it go. He had to get the child to back away. To never come back to the Barrens, with a curse –

~No! Leave him alone! ~ Ava saw the distressed boy as her brother and awoke from her trance. She'd been frozen, afraid to hurt the ones she loved. But…

Chris was too busy fighting Kori to tell. His eyes were luminous, as the moon's bow. Suddenly, Ava understood what had to be done and, even if it hurt to try. She almost knew now why she'd allowed the abuse to go on. It was too late, she had to right this wrong.

~I…I command you –

~I am destroying him for you, my Queen! You cannot turn from your fate! He is an outsider! Free your powers! Do away with the –

~NO! ~ Ava shouted as Kori made another wall into a gaping side hall by her herculean strength. ~I command you to stop, fighting! It is not what I want –

~I was appointed your advisor! ~ The wolf turned and let go of Aiden's arm as his attention was on Ava. A princess. Deserted by her kingdom.

~ I don't care, because you aren't My Chris, the one who told me he'd always be there – In fact, the real Chris was gone before I even became a princess! I've always known…~ Sudden tears dripped by her eyes and wet the tunic, the one she'd had on since her world had been frozen in eternal sleep.

~I had never believed he was going to come back to me. That Chris, was who I loved…And I would NEVER let him be taken from me by a monster like you! Hati! ~

She pointed her short sword at the beast as he howled out. His phases of the dark moon, sentenced with his alter, to a place without end.

~Leave us all alone! ~ Her ice breadth pushed out past her lips; her hair rose by a magical casting with her feet off the ground. A telepath, a sorceress of the country of ice and snow. The Barrens was her home, Reia's legacy and she had promised to salvage what was left of it.

The way was paved with shards as they trapped the beast and left free only the Chris who had been facing Kori down, until his eyes grew softer, easier to read.

That was the real Chris. Ava hiccupped through her tears as the others gasped. He was no longer corporeal. He was a ghost; a spirit that had always been beside her. Hati's curse was to let him stay by her side, but without being able to control the wolf, one that could hurt Ava. He had tried to keep it in check. But as things were, the power was at its end. Hati only sapped Chris's life-force every time his body was able to revive itself. With the wolf, he had been an incomplete immortal being.

Chris in the past, had been a servant and aide to the Priestess Reia. As a youth, he was not of her kin, but of the Fae. Faire of the wood beings who watched over his princess, as they grew up to know of her soon - to – be - demise. Like Aluehainyu's clan and her attachment to Reia's unborn, the priestess soon left the world as mist over mountaintops, to waft and drift away, undiscoverable by the next voice that could speak of it.

Reia had been able to take a part of her body and spirit alchemically, to reproduce Ava. That was why she was not a babe when Isa had recovered her, why she did have Reia's magic and memories. It was sad to say goodbye, as Ava's heart saw Chris as the runt of the litter to her Priest's classes; his imagination no better than how he'd been, even just as cautious as he was with Ava in their human forms, in that present day and lifetime the two had shared together...

~I love you…Ava Marie. I will always remember to watch over you from wherever I am…~ His words sent her to pull his cord with a yank of her arms back through the swirling gusts of wind and snow. The wolf was forced to cry out as the ghoul had been liberated, which meant Chris had no choice but to join the mutt elsewhere. If his sentence was lighter, he'd see her in another age…

Once he had gone, the world grew quiet. As soft as a snowy night in December.

She breathed out and with a bellow of the snow queen's cry; her aching memories torn in two separate directions, Aiden caught a glimpse of his sibling, the one who'd dropped into their lives overnight to watch over them all, cry as a wolf maiden to the moon. A craw* as a raven by the loss of her family and lover – forevermore, beckoning to those unholy, ice - hearted gods of old. He was never, to see her again. A crime; a crime to still cling to life, when he had already died. And Lady Aneiu, had spoken it all…Back before Ava and her siblings had even known anything about their destinies…

/

Ava had been taken away by Lilith. The arc where Aiden's powers were not yet anything more than a spark in his parents' poor eyes. When Anna's fire – power lacked focus, and she still refused to use it as a gift from the sun gods in question.

When the Goddess Isis had pulled the family apart; leaving the story of the Red Lord to haunt the children's nightmares as they prepared to navigate –

School.

San Francisco California. Aiden at the time was not yet fifteen. His twin Anna was a minute ahead of the curb in athletics, but not in social skills like her brother. He was the apple of everyone's eye, even if he just tried to live an average life out into middle school.

Ava was going onto bigger, better places. She was three years older than her siblings, including the adorable ten-year-old Amelia Grayson.

Amelia, or Ami, was, a mystery. A child with spunk, speed, and maybe even psychic powers, her family had joked. She had a dream to be an Environmental filed biologist and save the planet. Her teachers praised the girl, as this time and place was a bit more progressive with half – alien children.

None of the kids had Kori's strength or bolts. The doctor did not believe they would, even despite the extensive studies done to prove that the kids were only ordinary humans.

The kids got along, at times not always with each other, but with others.

These children also had friends outside their family circle;

A brilliant techie, Jacklyn Stone; the youngest child of Mr. Victor Stone and Karen Beecher. She had a big brother who was rarely around, though Anna Grayson had a crush on the guy since they'd grown up together like family.

The whole thing? Both groupings of the kids' parents used to be a big part of the famed Teen Titans back in the day. As for the Grayson clan?

Dick Grayson worked where ever duty called and came knocking hard, be it fatherhood or a late-night meal with his wife on a weekend holiday. Those two love doves Kori and Dick, were also former Titans in their hey - day. He was a cop with a one - man – SWAT - team attitude. He hated partnering up, but still had some beef with his superiors since a minor incident had broken out in Bludhaven back before Ami had been born.

The family had capped that history, throwing it to the side as they raised their four children with pride and tonight…

Was pizza night!

Aiden looked at his watch and ran like the wind. With his bag dragging against the updraft, his Mach speed up to maximum power, Aiden believed his luck had finally changed.

All that year before, he'd had a hassle, (unlike his gargantuan - legged sister, Anna) with finding the time to wake up, get on the bus and get to school on time.

Fourteen, and he couldn't even wake up to the neo – rock group (Interstellar Might) without conking out completely.

Anna was in charge of Ami, while Ava…

Had Aiden to watch out for. Or rather, he had too watch out for HER.

As a model student of East San Francisco High, Ava was offered a lot for having stepped into the lives and hearts of s many. She was three years older than Anna and Ava, and had streaks of lavender in her silvery, unnaturally colored hair. Aiden didn't know what side of the family held the trait of purple eyes either. From what he knew from Anna's snooping, Ava had been adopted on one of the Titan – parent's missions in the past. That was all they had guessed now, but not until recently.

Ava had a bit of a cold streak. She had maybe two to three friends she even contacted, and was always busy preparing for her exams over keeping long time friendships with her peers. Save for two;

Aiden's crush who was a grade above him from their childhood days, Lisa Viscado and her cousin…Who had mysteriously dropped off the face of the earth due to a family concern that Lisa refused to discuss. And also, there was Ava's crush from grade school.

A cautious, studious brunette boy with glasses and a smile that toted modesty like a handbag full of rainbows. A likable guy, for a push -over. Getting to that, his health was usually off on some chronic dates in the year that had the two apart. She walked or ran to school to beat the bell with him; her Christopher Jean.

Chris was her puppy, while Lisa had an equally attentive Aiden to stare her down in her band Ready Steady; an up and working punk rock bunch that had Lisa as their front – woman.

Yes, he was…Entirely sure that she'd never go out with him.

But unlike her starry backstory, she wasn't Miss popular at school. This wasn't a Warbler Bro's picture from the early 2000's.

She roamed with mostly the introverted, rebel crowds. Aiden had Toby; a Mexican American kid who had previously lived in Los Angeles with his estranged Madre, before moving with her to live with his grand – papi in San Fran three years ago. They had been inseparable. Toby's big brother was also in a band, and Toby even went to his gigs to show Aiden the videos he too on his phone the next morning to post. He always said Aiden looked like a spiky, blonde haired front runner of some band and could totally get away with it.

Aiden, didn't like to be out in the spotlight unless he was playing a team sport at school. He liked soccer the most, less complicated, running track too was alright.

Anna somehow believed Aiden was better than her at sports, but she always threatened to beat up the toughest players. That was why she never got into the game. She was on the bench regretting her actions instead. And boy, could she throw a wallop…

Dad called Ann a bit of a spit - fire spirit, but told her to cool it down a lot when the school called to put a stop to it one time or another. Many times... That…Had been the last week of classes for the summer.

Ava and Chris had been having issues with Chris's over – bearing mother, who was afraid Ava would ultimately end up putting her son in the hospital before he'd have the chance to one day graduate college. She made her son feel insecure, but telling her that was a very, bad idea. Ava had tried to reassure her friend that nothing like that was going to occur, but Chris….

Be it the asthma or fever that occurred when he'd finally sat down, Ava almost wished she was the one in that office with the same disease, more than some days.

He was going to live, but with the complex pattern the chronic items had placed onto his life, Ava worried about it until one day, her eyes didn't even bother to recall why she'd become friends with Chris since the beginning.

The two had been coming out of classes, and were off to the library now for a study session. The summer heat boiled the pavement and the caps of the teens' heads as they walked to the building in a straight line across the way. The adjoined building was more a private study than a library. It had been found on a free recess in the prior year, and Ava had called her secret grotto. She invited Chris to the spot often, prepping for college and high school papers together. Staying in that box of wonders to beat the late day heat.

Chris appreciated how well ventilated the little shack was. It did look right out of a certain Dr.'s time – line. Tollbooth (box) and all. (Yes, Dr. Who?)

"So, you have to…." They were going over trig with a passion for smashing right through the time. Chris's big glasses bobbed over his eyes as Ava looked down at the same paper with her own never leaving the page as her friend explained the material.

"What's wrong?" Chris stopped pulled back away, looking back at Ava as she soon let out a long sigh.

"Sorry! I…Just was thinking…Out loud…Nothing...!" She ducked her eyes back down at the page, soon bright red with embarrassment.

He frowned and sat back in his wooden chair. A perfect brow raised in her direction. He wasn't buying a word of that garble.

"Come on, Ave. I know you are nervous about the SAT exams coming up, but I can help you prepare –

"My guardian before, Isa…She came to our house two nights ago!" Ava blurted out, then shut her eyes tightly to cool herself down. "She, was in a good mood, but she told my mom something that had them sitting down at the kitchen table, about me…"

"But, you were adopted." Chris stated this to be true. "Isa isn't your mom; she was the one who raised you before the Grayson family did. So, she just has your best interests. What did she have to say? It must have been important."

It was a concern that Isa knew of Ava being someone of a, talented savant. She could play the violin, sing like a canary in private at times, and had an incredibly gifted analytical mind since birth that Isa believed was squandered with a public-school degree. She had done this 'visiting' more than once in Ava's lifetime with her parents. Dick Grayson, Mr. Grayson, had unintentionally found the task to have upset young Ava more and more, forcing her perform as if her life depended on it. And she had, up until now. He'd done nothing to crush her future…

Ava was a simple joy to be around. As if her age were that of a wise old crone's and not a bright teenaged girl's. She had a single charm about her, that drew others in.

Sometimes Chris believed it to. In his dreams, he was surrounded by mist. Something would tug him to hear a few words, then he'd be up. Wide awake and afraid to forget.

It was death calling to him.

/

He wanted to help Ava through her doubts as much as he could, but…

His mother was a shrewd human being to start. She did not care for Ava after an incident at the school had led Ms. Jean to suspect Ava as the main culprit. The series of events led away from that description, just that the attacker had not been caught or well documented in time.

Still, Ms. Jean feared that one more year in school, in the real world, would lead to her son's untimely demise.

His graduation could not come a day later, or too soon. Ava needed him, and he needed her friendship so much, he suspected it too. She was beautiful and smart. Kind and thoughtful over every task that came her way. Never straying from her responsibilities.

This was her emotional side reaching out to him. Her own dear friend.

"Ava, you have to tell her…You just are –

"I did, but Isa was so…So, manipulative!" Ava pushed her hair back and moaned into her hands soon after. "She thinks I'm a brain surgeon, or I could rule the world! I'm…I'm not! I just want to finish my year here and go to an art school to paint or…to play…My violin in –

"In the Sydney…No, London symphony-

"Yeah, they said I'm good enough to try…" She sniffled and suddenly felt better with having told Chris of her buried woes. "Wow." Chris sat back, and in the tears she shed, the time that seemed to stand still while inside this box. Did it have a force – field around it?

"Then, tell her that THAT is what you want! She can make it happen!" He brought his glasses from his face and took her arm from across the table. She saw into his light blue eyes. Like a crystal field of dreams…

Her, Christopher Jean.

Ava didn't know what had come over her, but it happened. In a split in that tiny shack, the two shared their first kiss together. It was brief. Both were shy and the honest blushing was a bit shared. Ava pulled away once the moment had waned.

"Ah, study session jitters…Let's get back to the rest of this!" He nodded quickly. To shocked to speak.

She sat back down and the two put the book Ava had in her hands in the middleof the table –

"The…Thanks?"

Ava surprised Chris as she pecked her best friend on the cheek and chuckled as she pulled slowly back away. Her silvery hair blowing about in the breeze from the plugged-in electrical fan. A princess. His princess, who he'd always protect…

"Whatever you say, professor." She smiled back, as warm as a winter sun.

Chris shook his head back into shape, looked quickly down at the book, then at Ava in surprise with a nod, before returning to the next page….

/

~No matter how far away, I will always love you…~

~I will always love, you…~

/

He couldn't be her cure. (The Cure.)

She could not be his, and so…

Aiden brought his fingers to touch Ava's shoulder lightly, almost making the weeping girl jump.

~Sorry…~ Aiden spoke through the speak, despite his parents' warnings about delving too deep. Raku wasn't Roku, he could do it, for Ava's sake. As her little brother.

~I know…Seeing him like that was –

~I knew he wasn't himself. ~ Ava wiped her nose with the back of her tunic's sleeve. ~He was, so serious, calculating and…Colder than I'd ever remembered us being together…~ In a way, she had to smile at the compliment. Cold, prepared. Her role as a northern world of ice and snow queen had to require those abilities. That morale was nothing unless it protected the Barrens from disastrous ….

~Chris cared about you, Ava. ~ Aiden said to her with a weak grin. He wanted to do something, but fell flat. Then, it hit.

He grabbed her round the sides and came close enough to hug, his breath at her throat as if he needed the embrace and reminder more than his sibling did.

~I only want you to be happy, no matter how many times you go away…This is what he wanted. It had to be his wish to see you as…As comfortable in your skin as possible! Don't waste it! Chris, he was like family to all of us! ~ He wept along with her, knowing the sternest sister needed a way to vent and let go of her family, her memory as a human…

~Did I…Ever want this?!...~ She hiccupped. ~I am a queen, but I'm so confused! What am I fighting for anymore! Chris, he was…Was supposed to be by my side! I can't decide! What –

~We'll figure it out. The spirits right now, they need you! ~ Aiden was pulled from his heart – to - heart as Wiz Greg in his bishounen form used his magic to unveil the casting.

~Aiden? ~ He didn't push Kori from her path as she rushed by the man's good arm. Her eyes with not with tears, but her brows knotted, unevenly suggesting some confrontation was about to occur.

"Ava Marie! What were you trying to do? You, you are not going back to that world! I forbid it –

~ Miss Anders! ~ Greg dropped a few centimeters at the Forbid, part.

~Ava is to succeed Reia! –

"She has been mislead by your people on that world." Kori frowned at her old ally. His face unbecoming in his new body. "Gregory, do you not see the damage this has caused my bumgorf?" Kori snapped back at the gutless sorcerer.

"Cyborg, we shall have to intervene. As the people of this world say; there is something rotten in Detroit –

"Denver, actually…Mom, but! –

"No more butting, Aiden Grayson!" Kori glared at her son with that sweet, gentle mother's face no longer her own, but an enforcer's will was left in its place where it should have already been.

"Kori, she's got a lot to take on. An' you got that livin' like a royal deal when you were –

"Was I not with my people, and they with my word?" Kori corrected her teammate crossly. "Did we not have a long -standing trust in each other? Ava's council has NOT shown her these qualities! She is…Struggling because of their neglect! Ava, you do not have to –

"Mom…You're taking this too far…I'm not ready to go anywhere…" Ava exhaled and had Aiden pushed from her side. Giving her a moment to speak. To finally be heard.

"I'm not going to make any decisions over my life until Earth's is safe again. I came back to save our worlds. You still think the Barrens is a wasteland, but Aiden and the New Gen Titans were there and saw it. And…It IS incredible! Worth protecting… A place that pulls you into a story that you can make even better if you try, but all the same, you believe yourself a real savior to them. No, I'm the one who is to blame! I'm not just the council's little side – project." She shook her head and looked to the timid sorcerer. "Greg? I'm no oracle or fated queen, I want to protect my family, and I'll do it a hundred times while I'm still here breathing. Just like I did with…My real family."

The room was quieted by Ava's speech, while Aiden remained afraid that Ava would toss herself into a battle back inside that cold, dark void. It had been pretty, but no vitamin D made one…Kind of depressing later on. She had to consider Kori's note; the council was using Ava, to fix a mistake that should have been corrected

"So, then are we ready to –

"Dudes!" Gar bounded back over with Beetle, Superboy, and Miss Martian right behind. Ava dropped her stance and let Kori take care of her second family. She was ok. Aiden had reminded the silver haired sorceress that she was strong before on her own, and could be again. She didn't need someone to hold her hand anymore.

/

Raku's example of falling apart was to close off the world around him; but not as Medusa would have believed, he had a sense of danger - an attraction to those who could help or harm him.

One in particular was among the returning pair –

Slade pushed the dark walls away as the gates vanished. A magic that could veil off all those human eyes might look to, as they might, try to detect of the dirtied, underground coven.

Cici scratched the hairy chin of her newest pet; a well fed, demonic spider from the nether - plane. It stood beside her and did not protest. He had lived by her craft, forever it should be this way.

Slade seemed to be glum, over something that the two shared. No secret by Cecilia's detached grin and Slade's somber wallowing through that loud doorway.

~Did you erase them? ~ Medusa slunk over with a frown on her ugly face. Was she really a gorgon? More so a demoness who was not blessed with such beauty as her mistress.

"We got in…so very close, but Slade…. He's not a fan of being far from –

"I'm bound by the curse." Slade shook his skull and saw from the corner of his eye, that pleading red set of eyes in the dark…

Cici sniffed and continued to forget the failed order; that Alicia was alive and well, not by her doing though.

"Excuse me, I must freshen up before the next blood bath starts." Slade grunted and walked away from the mediocre praise. Medusa's 'hiss' was praise enough. The real target was long gone. They had failed, and Ares was…Close to putting his sister's slave's head on a platter.

~You didn't have a single scratch. ~ Raku mind - spoke with his remaining magic to the male as he watched the assassin's eyes carefully.

~I had no choice. Until there is another to take my place, I'll continue to serve that cackling brat –

~And I might know how to push her from her throne. ~ Raku did this on autopilot. Something coaxed him to keep pressing. To keep speaking, outside his own logic.

~You? As you are now, I'd say our chance is slim. And to think, how you EVEN managed to take over my body and make it yours…~ Slade snorted out the last part mockingly, a reminder of what Ro…The dragon had done to him.

~If you don't help me, Roko will surely seek the same –

~I still don't' get it…~ Slade stared the tween's way. ~You are weak, and yet you need me? Want me to just, walk away?... Where have we heard that one liner before, hmm? ~ He was in the worst o moods. Raku was wasting his breath.

~I can break the curse! You would be foolish to deny my services! –

~ Ah, that's why Aiden was put to bed…You! ~ Slade wanted Raku to forgive himself first. If he were a strong candidate enough, he'd rise to meet the deal wisely. If not…He'd continue to put the rat of a daemon down until Ares did the same, or tried, to him.

Then his endeavor would lead to the madmen's' demise, together. They'd both go down in flames. Eternally broken.

~I had to place him where his mind was not going to be overtaken. He is still my contracted. I require no other. His light is connected to my father's own. ~ Raku spoke.

~You, saved him then. Hum. Well, are you going to reveal to these fine monsters your real body, boy? Can you face them –

~Not yet. ~ Raku, or the alter that spoke on his behalf, shook its head.

~I am waiting to have Eris by herself. I know how to make her see the error of her ways, not mine. ~

~Even if, a birdie told me, you raped her in your time. Which is one reason to –

~To hate me, and crave my powers…I don't want these powers to be in her hands. She will ruin Azag's good name. I have only to seek out the Chosen. To give to him this rite. ~

Slade suddenly shifted his position. Someone was approaching.

~You should not harass the prisoner. ~ Cici tutted as her drooling spider pet skittered from behind to snap out at the cage which held Raku from its jaws. The child - God did lower his head, though stood tall as he could, trying not to flinch. His shoulders were still tense from his talk earlier with Medusa.

~Are you working to overthrow an army of my creatures? WE have a master plan. You…Are suicidal if this brat has your attention, so well - put…~ She snipped and was led to glare at Raku from inside his caged existence, a smirk on her beautiful face. A picture that could rival a goddess's vanity. Was she a real Nyx?

Slade didn't like to pry, but his sleep schedule had been interrupted. "I know you have a history. I'm fully aware of what a mess you 'monsters' are."

~Monsters? ~ Cici batted her eyes and gasped. ~Humans are so single – minded. We are all eternal to those wise enough to guess our intent…~ Cici's body had this, heat to it. A fire with a cold glow. A flowing river, leading to …

~Eris…~ Slade thought. There must have been a hex on this blonde brat, and now she was physically DRUNK with it! He was infected just by being this close!...

Raku saw the vaguely - formed aura as well. All as red camellias, an intensified passion. She was going in for the kill.

~I can't keep playing games either…You owned half of my sister's body. You were close to it…Why not share the story, of how you made her feel so dirty! ~ Her golden eyes were wild with that same animalistic greed. That inbred hunger as she strode over to touch the assassin's right arm.

~I want this feeling from you both, so that when I have MY revenge on your sullied souls, I may crave only her release…~ She let her hands wander towards Slade's chest. He could not budge by the power cast unto his glass eye. He tried to consider this a witch as her simply 'toying' with his emotions, letting her fingers touch as he could only watch helpless to stop it. Raku could only hear those grunts of protest from beyond his walls, those very same that held the boy senselessly…too close to the action.

As if he'd had this same emotion, the same scenario. With one as young and fragile as she…Cici, the forever young Crescendo daughter of an ancient lunar cult. His body grew hot, yet his mind did not waver.

That the moon willed her to beckon for the sun. Her sibling's return from the afterlife would be do or die. Still, Cecilia embodied a nereid. A single - celled daemon with a desire to escape her fate.

Slade was just a way to dull the sad ache in her heart. To fill it while she plotted and planned of a way to reunite with her true soulmate. Her sun - child sibling…

His mask was pulled away slowly with a yank by her long, slender fingers. Her palms as a cushion to his cheeks. Her lips were close and with the taste of a deadly poison. An apple, a fruit that was forbidden from tasting. She felt it bitter sweetly against her drunken lips. Seduction…

She still let the drunken scent keep them forever alive. She had no intent of letting young Raku look away at the lives he had tainted. At what lives he had altered by his monstrous magical influence. That Slade was also his victim. She, his result of an alliance to true monsters.

Lilith had created her, yet she had always housed such power. Power that her family, her people, most feared of the elder princess's strength. That her will was tempted to find solace with the under – realm kings and queens. To permanently stomp out the sun, and leave the day black as night, forever.

~I was fated to erase the light which would kill him, and I intend to do so…By saving the light I crave from living in isolation as I had been to believe of my fate. So, a kiss? Will it not ease the burning torch inside my chest? Will you not give your savior what she so desires of ye? My soldier…. Not to Eris, for she is not here to witness our pact…~

She sighed as if her cheeks were not beat red from the apple's damned effects. That her lust was not rectified as true or real, and that the power of seduction could not have her as she tired of these steady losses. The reminders of her madness...

So, mote it be.

~So, then have me; all of my wants I settle within you…~

She didn't wait for a yes or no. She kissed him, deep and hardly unorthodox. Given her body, she might have looked eighteen. Yet, she was immortal; her age was much longer a time in form than her sibling's had been. Alice had been reborn at fifteen to stand beside the Teen Titans.

Slade was too of an immortal's quality and she rather liked the taste of blood in his mouth against her own senses. A way to whet her already piqued appetite.

He was a warrior, a killer to the human race who kept on living, dying as he was told. No matter the dead promises, no matter the words which kept him from his orders. This was what she wanted. To by - pass the fates' ruling and to escape her own fate. To be, finally alive…

She gave him a bit of extra brushing as her hands found the back of the man's neck. Her hands gripped that mass of white hair and shuddered. It was so soft…So lush as her cravings could not be sustained against her better judgement. Humans were weak enough to grab, just like this hair. She could shake, or be shaken…

As if a soldier without a brain, he clutched her and pulled her in. Furthering the felicitous bond. A lovely example of teamwork, though forced unto them by another's cruel and sick gamble of the fates.'

Passion wove its tendrils through young Cecilia's thoughts. Of what he could do to her, and she to him.

He was aggressive. She had expected a fine head start, but men were not all beasts. He took his time. Touching lower, then at her throat he dove - knocking her back from her small victory.

Cici yelped and felt as her clouded vision became nothing less of a blur. Her head spinning as he nipped at her collarbone with the precision of a jackal. A lap dog whose needs came before her own. Yet, yet he did not toy with her breasts as Raku turned round, only to hear the mewling and grunting of his former comrades. Roku's creations.

"Lower…" She rasped, wanting the punishment for a job unfinished, for this to last a bit longer.

"More, there!" She had her wish as her cloak was fated to fall about her sides. Her slender body in all black was just as one soul might picture of a hiatus - prone pop sensation. Her hoarse sigh had a sense of elegance to it; her age not depicted by the sounds she made, nor the body she'd chosen to return in. This skin was hers. She'd erected it purely because it was possible.

He went on, sucking her navel like a good lackey should. She smiled and curled her toes as he had her in the air, practically on a trapeze of wants and of delusional happiness. She swung to the thrum, until it got to be, a bit hotter. And the rest was…

"What you wish for, try to think about it carefully." Slade knew that a shock would come if he spoke those words in her ear. Dragging his head close to her own ear by her uncovered arms, she gasped as the sweat only pooled quicker. Tickling the sides and back of her neck.

A sense of danger, a tiger's growl...

Slade smirked, though mask - less. She had not guessed a sudden feeling that he could gain back his eye, break the curse, then use Raku to destroy the queen of chaos later. First, he had to scare the witch into submission. Sex was a tool in his book. He did not want her in his bed. He wanted her, out of his head. So, he used his given organ to brush, even inside his clothes, just to have her look his way. To get this child to wake up from her silly daydreams.

"Are you sure that if I take you here, Alicia won't violently reject you?" He whispered into a deep purr, setting the god – killer girl to try and look his direction. Even while swinging upside – from his rocket. Though, she was only getting a like poke. It was not enough to push her to the brink.

"I…. Know I cannot be forgiven…You, are not the first…" Cici shook a bit as her hips bucked, trying to control the curse that had been placed onto her body. She was latched to his thighs. Holding on with her legs round his torso to keep her afloat as she wished.

"Eris is just an illusion. She doesn't count." Slade tried to level the playing field. If the goddess was discarded, then Cici could break her chains as well.

"You think getting ripped apart by me will save you? Make the pain go away. I wouldn't agree to taking you. I would so rather kill you and all you stand for, but…You have to decide." He turned to Raku who nodded. At last, they knew what needed to be done.

She heard a zip and her eyes widened. Her instinct was to react right off the bat.

"Take it out!" Cici shouted and squirmed from the man's grip. She had no hope, her body…The apple…She craved its scent! Why? It was digested….!

Slade chuckled. He was not inside her. He was just giving her a poke. No dropping panties on his watch. It was, unsettling if things went that far.

"You aren't doing this right. Could you be, undecided then?..." Slade shook his head and was near ready to drop her, yet he refrained. Instead, he readied his body closer as the ghastly euphoria from her curse slowly wore off of the girl. When she'd come to her senses, she'd fight back. He waited and teased her some more –

"Y…You….C…. Cannot…-

"Can't I?" Slade sneered and grunted a bit; a rub was a jolt to throw her head back as Cici trembled with a shade of pink to suit her. It was so much better than scarlet.

"I…. I…. S…She!...Ah!" She rolled back her head again and groaned, gritting her jaw. Animal instincts finally kicking in. A painful repercussion. Slade just pushed a bit closer, startling the little song bird as her breathing soon became frantic.

"I…don't want this! Let me go!" She was not undressed. Why was she thinking him …Roku…He could break cloth? No, this man was …Why did…

"Then, have I won back my freedom –

"Go to hell! -

"Ah!" She winced from her resistant tug away from his eager to please, member. She didn't want to feel used up, or alone. She, would have…

~Then, the same…I was the same to …. No…. ~

She bemoaned; for how cruel her ache really was!... Alicia did not love her as anything more than an older sibling…. How could she…But, love was not blind then. She'd been able to overcome her hatred of her enemies, because they were just as she. Still searching to be freed of their pains.

"Put me down, Wilson." She calmly tried to speak, with a painful swallow. "I will free you, just as you must help me to be freed of my loneliness –

"Fair enough." Slade patted the woman's thigh as if she were a horse. She took a deep breath, and started to concentrate on a spell.

The magic in his eye started to dull, then it faded all completely. Cici had only needed to relinquish that control. He was still Eris's if she caught him. He didn't need to know right away. She still had some power over him if she didn't tell.

"That went well, don't you think?" Slade smiled back to the boy in bonds beside his arm. Raku nodded back from his cage, though flashbacks of how he'd been this vile…. Yet, as Roku, they still existed to torment the child. A horrible jailor to those like Cici who remained resentful of their fates.

With a final flop, Cici was let go of her bonds. Slade's gloved hands returned to his sides, with not so much as a single scratch.

Cici rubbed the back of her neck. Having landed on her bum was a quick save, no extra bruising. She looked up to Slade and cocked her head to ask lastly.

"Why did…you…"

"You are supposed to be so smart, sorceress." Slade shrugged and re- zipped his pants. Though everything had still stayed on, if he had gotten any more aroused than the alternate – Cici had, then he would have lost his will to defeat his own demons. Slade would have become them. He would have never washed off the shame for a very long time. A magical scar on his life.

"You are, ehem, were trained under a crone. A goddess that knows when danger is present. Either you allowed your emotions to take over, or something else stopped you –

"Surveying my past was not part of our pact." She was done, but his cuffs were loosened now. There was only her power to cast him out into the wasteland that was Berlin, up above their heads.

"I guess then, unless Eris comes to your rescue, you have really no one else to trust. To turn to."

Cici realized it too. She was weak after having left her teacher's side for so long. She had believed her rites justified by her…

She did not have the will to weep. He held the cards. This, man with an iron will. He had almost taken her power from her…

"I was chosen to remain a vassal in the under -realms. Of Lady Hecate…Yet, I fled." She clutched at her skirts. Nervously looking at the floor, Cici spotted her cult's cloak lying to the side where her oppressor had thrown it. "For I did not want to be alone in that dark world forever." She finished.

"And you fought back." Slade looked to Raku as the boy again could say nothing. He then returned to having all eyes on the crone's ex – protégé.

"Did your life really end?" He asked. "The way I see it, you could have had more power to control your fate if you had stayed. But you chose the hard way."

"Very…" Cici flushed at the word. She knew what it implied. He was rude, a scoundrel.

"Will you try again? My way, this time?" Slade looked again to Raku, then back to Cecilia as she furrowed her light brows. "What are you suggesting I help you to accomplish?"

"Whatever you want, just…No incest. Please." Slade shook his head and put a hand to his frustrated brows. "In our world, it is considered a criminal act –

"I don't want to wed my sister."

Slade stopped at the girl's confession. "You, don't." He tried to see just if the trick had done this or, if her conscious thoughts had not been her own. Possibly neither.

"I want to protect her, to say…Goodbye."

"I see." Slade understood. She was still against Alicia's decision to be sent off. To be reborn as a human, to be nothing more than a fragment of what the older twin remembered of her family. Of what it meant to have once been truly happy.

"I did not want ill of her, yet of those who allowed her…Her passing…I... I cannot-

~And I…~ Raku finally shuddered a sob, a sniffle at the wrongs he had committed.

~Will gladly take all of that blame, even if you must hurt me now to do away with your pains. The ones I allowed to entrap us…-

"Pity – party aside." Slade knew why Raku had stayed silent. He'd remembered. It was shock. A mirror of what the dragon had done, only less vile than the dragon had been Slade; who'd demonstrated it all in front of the poor half – jinn's eyes.

"We have to move. Eris and her gorgon friends will learn of this betrayal. So here;" He waved to have Cici zone in on Raku's cage. "Can your powers still break the bars of his prison?"

"What?" Cici was taken aback by the question, more as a command from one of her own.

~That was not…What are-

"You've wallowed in self – pity long enough, both of you." Slade knew it. He was working with kids. Great…

"I, that was not why I had you freed!" Cecilia protested shakily. Had she not gotten over her fear of the dragon? Only Slade?

"I cannot comply! Do not –

"And if YOU say no, the other witch will find us here. Still in disagreement." He walked up to Cici and put out his hand. "You have a fear of him. I have a dislike of magic now because of not just you. So don't count yourself lucky, blondie."

"Trust, me now. This will work."

"What if he erupts!" She was leaning towards him with a hand gripping her fluttering heart.

"He won't." Slade replied." Because, unlike you…That boy is only, half human."

/

Dick had his side of the globe. Cybill had her neck of the woods. Abeni was, debating the war and what her people wanted.

It seemed unlikely to change.

A war deity had sided with a powerful master of the skies to terrorize town after town. Zambia, the Sudan, and the Nigerian west had been hit from the inside. As if a virus had spread over the continent, Abeni had only to talk with her leaders and to tell them everything she knew. That the outside was unsafe right now.

They bashed her views. Her services were simply not there. She was only a child in this body, and could not oppose or present her real form to the mortals of this world.

~I cannot get through those stubborn officials. ~ Down in the dumps over her loss, and both the end of her country's wellbeing, Abeni took to the exit with a heavy heart.

~I cannot save them. Shoji, was right not to trust his allies…~ She'd not regret her decision.

However, a scout of the god Ares was about the council halls as well. His ears pricked up with not a sound as he waited for Abeni's aura to turn.

Doubt, and why was Momus not here?

~ He must be gone, like my brother…~ The younger twin; the one who'd believed his role gone and washed of himself.

No longer, as Ares had found the boy crowded between cardboard walls, ready to fly into the air. He'd twisted the twin's arm. Told him to never run off again...

He was made to stay, to do as he was told.

Abeni walked with her head lowered. Her curled mass a bit wavy, losing body due to her dour mood. Her appearance was not out of the ordinary. The president? The king of kings here? He'd looked a wreck, a captain without his crew on board. There was nothing the guardians could do! This was a CHAOS GODDESS they were going up against. A GOD OF WAR to back her up!

~Come closer, already…~ The younger twin gritted his jaw and stood shaking with the veil of day across his pale shoulders.

Abeni looked away at the exit, then she turned. No. She was a protector. Shoji could count on her.

~I won't –

~ah! ~ As she reached for the door to the head staff's room, it slipped away.

Hypnos…

No.

The younger Gemini twin crouched down low. His eyes grew wider as the beast emerged.

Morpheus? No…Of shadows it was - as the door moved away, the light was bent –

Erebus.

The twin gulped.

It was not so soon to arrive. The Grecian God of Shadows. Erebus of the Ego and the self combined, and divided, they would fall.

/

The ridicule that Sten had dealt with left him with a deeper respect somewhat for Astarte's hard knock lessons. He'd almost given into the safety latch that could have killed off a good fourth of Sweden's population in a few days. The looming threat made his knees jump each time the door was reached by some staff from his group. Here, he had only his cowardice to show clearly to all of those human beings.

"Kära gudar…" He sighed into his hands at the big man's desk. His human father was no human, but a cold dog like he was, a fight or flight canine. As no one seemed to be appearing in his office that day, Sten sighed again and let go his body and spirit.

His limbs fell away to reveal a rather long eared, glacial aspect and self in the form of fox – hybrid (like Verra or Vespa, Kaien, all are Pokémon Eevee evolutions. Glacion, everyone!)

"I've hated hiding. Attans!" He cursed in his new native tongue. What freedom this relinquished soul now owned. He could cajole like a kid! Why be so grown up about it anymore?

"I'm going to scare the council, like this." He decided that letting the Earth crumble wasn't a way he wanted to leave his Glacial parent's legacy. He just wanted to fix the mess and return to his own home world. No matter how broken things stayed in this deadly place.

"Hell to my father's pride! I'm no longer bending over backwards. NOT for him." The door was blown back as the ice that took it down was a force of nature alone, a contender. His avarice in form.

He was excited, angry, frustrated in his testimony with the warrior queen. He'd show them! Astarte got at his goat, tore it limb from limb. She'd eat her words!

The staff members in the office chamber had all gone home. There were no humans left to tear down, which caught poor Sten off guard.

"What? Have they already been taken away, by those demons?"

There had been scouting 'shadows' that had enveloped a great deal of political figures over the many days that Astarte had…

Where was she?

Astarte had kept time standing still on this plane when she'd been around. He did not know who to trust with his mistakes, for Sten wasn't human to begin with.

He was an icy beast from the lands of the past. A place even Lady Reia had only been in contact with for a short period of her lifetime.

As for her reborn successor…

Sten was not to at all oppose the wants of his neighbor's kingdom, yet it would fall to ruin. Getting back to his tantrums;

"I do not love this body; it is messy and cries when I will it to stop. It will not listen, for this world…Is an infection to my old skin…" Sten came to the conclusion that keeping Earth alive was a long shot. And the only way towards a solution, would be…

~It must be gone, even if I share no pain of these mortals 'and their lives, I am right by my decision to forget the present. It, is unfixable –

"You seem to like calling yourself a king. A selfish one, at that. ~

Ares swept over as his head emerged from the shadows. Sten's fox body turned, swerving to defend itself from the close threat in his way.

~The humans have destroyed my brothers and sisters for the last time! Why must I hide my desperation if it is true? ~ He barked back.

Ares's helmet was more so a left-over relic that he didn't bother keeping on for long. He took it away from his face with a sweeping motion of his biker, bad – boy style of garb. Each left an impression on Sten as his eyes glanced over the teen with an attitude.

"I…Am fighting a punk child?" Sten scoffed, his eyes in disbelief over the joke. It had to be a distraction.

"I'm no older if not, hem, the better fighter than you. Little dog."

"Foxes to the skies! You are no more an imposter of the real war – lord Ares, than I am a god of ice and sleet!" Spat the dog in his wisest tone.

Ares left his grin to be with a mocking tone to it; his eyes more so speculating the fall of both their worlds.

"And you want to help us, is that it? To destroy this plane? Fix the problem? I only want your ideas to flourish." Ares shook his head. "Looks to me like you are playing for the wrong team. Am I right –

"I won't consort with a hoard of pigs and princes." The stuffy, ice - noble huffed and turned up his fox hybrid snout to the reborn relic.

"I am to do this alone, there is no need for a 'crew.'" He stated this as the war god let out a barking laugh. A short one.

Was the dog going rogue? Well!

"We want to take the human world as you wish to bury your memories of having LIVED with these gutless chimps!" The gang – boy stereotype snorted and expected a retort, though was surprised that all had gone quiet.

"I, just want them to understand, that my poor family must no longer suffer. This plane…" The fox grimaced at the state of his father's ego. How this world had sapped him of his resilience and…His mother, she was gone too.

"You poor, poor, noble…Tut tut…I understand. You see; my sibling and I found the root cause, the king who bonded daemon and God against our ancestors' consent."

Ares spoke sweet words of conquest, yet even juicier were his misleading remarks about a certain half – daemon child.

"Is that how wars start?" Sten spat angrily. "One man? Are you a fool! Your delusions led to my people suffering…. Which in turn…-

"Shoot. You figured out why daddy dear is so sick in the head." The god tossed his dark hair to the side in annoyance. "But the deed isn't done yet. You can fix it, just like that little rat who broke my sister's dreams. You can fix this Earth, by collecting the wills of –

~I am no demon!" Sten rebuked, even more furiously over how Ares had expected a partnership.

"I'm a god's watchdog here. Wodin would skin me alive."

"Isn't that old Santa a myth?" Ares cocked his head to the side.

"Just as the void exists…" Sten recalled a time when the earth was quiet. No snow, no seasons. Only sleep. A dreamtime.

It was there that he barked an order. He WAS order - of the lands he now guarded.

He could not let himself down. But, his father. His father was a weak soul, too careful. And THAT was not the humans' fault for the changes in his family. This was their fight. The humans were simply fodder for these miscreant devils posing as high ones.

"My god's luck has not run out!" The icy fog was embraced as it rounded about and corralled Ares towards the exit. As if the north wind had dismissed the false relic's needs for once.

He felt strong. Stronger; as if a weight had been lifted…Klara! Abeni! And, Cybill! He had to get on a conference call at once to warn them!...

~I won't let my family be taken away again. We stand together! ~

Ares was the ego; the self that Sten imagined would make all his worries vanish.

A lie. Time and action taken, that would save his skin and his pride.

Pride. He had to remember what it stood for, his ego could save its breath for now.

"Soo, that is a no." Ares softly shook his head. "Ah, you are reluctant, but I understand. The humans. You are soft as a lamb; they've taken you apart, not just your papa."

Sten felt the color drain from his face as he heard this. Was…That true?

"I did not get to your side as you needed. For that, I offer again…"

"She has discovered my dealings already." Sten felt fractured to bits. Ares had been the one who…

"The warrior queen? She's not so tough." Snickered the Godly sadist. "I could do away with her, if you say yes –

"She protects the people." Sten shook his head, hands…Paws vanishing. "I could…Not attempt –

"I'm giving you a way to free your soul from this miserable future, kid." Ares lowered his eyes to meet Sten's a bit closer up. Sten was startled back and his bum. His chest pounding at the trick.

"You…Cannot stop them. They are willing to do the same." The ice prince said shakily. "The Titans of Earth are against our intervention." He added, making Ares's day with that bit of information.

"Yet, they just watch and wait. No one can be trusted." He sighed. "I see. So then! How about this?" Ares stepped back with a smirk widely painted over his pretty rugged face.

"I can get you closer to the source, so you can fix this world, then not have to shed the blood of your people in order to save them. That's what you were planning, right?"

"Why…How did –

"Only a kid would bail on his responsibilities. Sheesh." Ares tisked* the idea. A bit risqué, indeed.

"You need a breather, it's the truth! You dogs work extra hard to cover up our flaws."

"We do a better job with the humans than you give us credit." Sten retorted. "They live and do as we, and we as they do. We live to protect and serve."

"AND YOU CAN!" Ares laughed as his time was almost up. Eris would be ready to have him again at her beck and call.

"You can erase the one who caused the void to shatter in the first place! The dragon…WE have him!"

Gawking, Sten could not stomach those words well enough.

~I have to tell…~ Everyone, only Klara had been so kind. Abeni was on their side. He did not need more babysitters.

"Fine. I'll do away with him, if that is true. Yet, tell me…War lord?" Sten egged on.

"Who else knows about it? The dragon's execution?"

A smile again graced Ares's lips. "So glad you could ask me, for I know enough to seal away your worries. He's done. In the underground. Just outside of Berlin here on Earth. You could go. Be the first to witness his shame and punishment. You, could save this world from him, with a small wish."

/

/

Have to get to the next chapter. And technically, the story is an M category for some iffy few typos (not typos.) As of this case?

Sten is Glacion, bu -bang! His home (he's failed to realize WAS SWEDEN hundreds of years ago. He's a guardian hound noble under Wodin (Odin.) Here, Sten believed he could not stand humans because of how his family's lives changed when they'd left their home in the Eternal realm, but he actually is more connected to earth due to where they ended up. Talk about sweating the small stuff. Seeing as Veravakumu ended up in Tokyo as a hot up – and running CEO, and not in Southeast Asia as a real big bad part of the community. I often wonder if in the days I put two and two together in middle school, why I did not make his home in Calcutta or anywhere close to his original roots.

Kay is a hybrid version of a whiter - furred Kyubimon (Digimon tamers,) with a second skin, Calumon (also tamers) where he's more so…A voice of reason when he does not lose his head. His origin is complex. His mother Sayumon was a fox spirit in the past who posed as a priestess, then gained more tails as she strengthened her seat in the Celestial world's court room. So, Kay, believe it or not, is a mutt.

Uh - Huh.

His dad; Hanumon (more gentleman than chimp) bedded Sayumon, yet she cursed his strength and made it so that he could never join her again out of spite. Another reason why power corrupts absolutely.

Ron; a bit later, he was said to have not been born to the same father, so this is either Sayumon showing off her power (wedding and tearing apart rich kings,) or he was more so a fragment of her own energies, though I highly doubt he can shape shift like Kay (who also has the power of the clouds, sky, and wind thanks to his daddy.)

So then? What about Kaien? Is he really an adulterous wimp who was once a volcano god, then before that Apollon?

Well, this is how it goes….

Yes, because the story of Cassandra is why Apollo is painted as a dick, not pardoning the rude tone. I mean it. So, Sayumon, Queen Astarte, Queen Isis, Esme's mom (ugh, incest?) Aria's mother, Lady Catalina, the Goddess Inanna, Autur, Aphrodite, Nina Santiago, and Sara Santiago (aka, Astarte,) all made the man drool like a hound both past to present. Call it anti – male stance, but it makes an interesting backstory for this dog of all dogs.

He runs a modelling agency (yes, that is what I said) in Milan, and it does well, but he always runs off to pester his nephews on the other side of the globe. Sort of a cover; so, he looks like a slug, when he's actually very well off.

His aspect fox is Flareon. The other is a lion and wolf hybrid that the team saw when they first met Kaien to take down Manifesto and saw Isa, of course. Arcs prior! Keep up!

Esme is Vaporeon for her pretty vivid display. Her brother Cliff is Leafeon to you!

Both siblings share a villa up near the cliff side by the water in Portugal. They were born under a strict family, so the only thing was to find a hobby outside of playing coy for the media.

As it happened, Raven remembered Cliff when she'd been traveling the world to run from her father's influence. Until she made it to Jump city. Malchior, arcs ago, became jealous. Or rather, Raven was not sure if she was dishonoring her first love's memory. So, she and Cliff stayed pen pal buddies only. Sad ending.

Esme was mistakenly branded the reincarnate of Aphrodite by her council, while the real Aphrodite was actually a small-town girl named Klara in Hungary. This is because for awhile she could swap colors from an aquatic blue to pearly pink. She even had a song that could make her fans kiss their lover in the stands. A real siren. But the pink was just her passion -power. That, and it stayed PG in that arc.

Cliff is a Bacchus clone. Ehen, as for his power? Parties, togetherness, and a cool head while sober, but he had green dreadlocks and darker skin than his tan princess of a little sister, who is actually older than him! He has the pan magic to prove it, but he lacks the punch, and the longing for more than love – despite his sibling complex. He has a touch of that, like a gifted curse. Congrats! His magic is not the kind he swings around though. Unlike the real god of wine, the world is his oyster, so he chooses to make the best of every day. Interesting compare and contrast, there. If wine was a symbolic thing for pleasure, you could be modest or go completely nuts. So, Cliff is the modern (imperfect cool dude) who has heart to go along with his favorite songs and at the right moment.

The two siblings had a 'dive' they went to in the previous arcs, where Esme's nereid abilities brought in a hot crowd. They did euro pop in secret, telling their father that they'd keep up with their studies. Cliff is actually a fantastic fencing champion going way back. He went off against the Titans to have them face his blade as a way to guess the traveler's intent. Sort of a bonding exercise. Cliff lost; I think?

Young Klara is Sylveon, pink and pretty! I'd call her an Aphrodite clone. So, I guess a bit flowery compared to the compassionate, well - mannered Esme. This is the other, bright and sunny pop -star (we consider her more a Katy Perry fan girl but I think more Marina and the Diamonds. Heck, it works out later!) She has pink curly, long hair and resembles a sheep. Very kawaii. She is petite and can sing as well as does grassroots charity work in her home town.

Abeni is akin to Eevee, a center – point figure in the game of course, as all routes to the beginning lead to Africa in dated studies, but we love to think that's how the human race got up on its feet. And so, I do believe this fact very much. From the seas, to the earth we shall return…Sigh. She's a team leader and leader to the Yoruba council after her father. She is more a city and country kid, trying to do right by what she knows and has learned. She has bunches of braids up in her nappy hair, is shorter for her age, and is very well gifted with a bit of insight, passion, and a love for peace. A very noble young woman. She also hates to be wrong, which is a weakness she's not yet embraced. She's loyal to her family, and has no material wants like her family (Aria, Kaien, Verra, etc.)

As for Cybill? Well…. It may come as a shocker, but the goddess Cybele whom our Cybill is connected to, was a hermaphrodite. Not a joke. So! I have the pleasure of giving this a thought. Is she Bi? Or is our college gal going to be as the myth dictates?

Working on what becomes of everyone's most hated enemy; Raku. So, Aiden met the REAL MANIFESTO INSIDE OF ANOTHER VOID. He literally was face to face with a nicer version of Raku's older self or otherwise alter self.

If Raku had become a prince, he'd have eventually become a hermit. You be the judge on that. So, Manifesto was the other name for the Raku (before Roku) who granted wishes with his half – jinn manifestation abilities. Raku would have ended up Ignito as the good guy…Because of his son relic powers as a first power – source after Horus.

He'd be on the scale of an alchemist who works in secrecy. Down below the earth's core; as a dragon to its riches, an interesting image.

Aiden also found that this Raku/Ignito, had an alter that WAS Roku/Manifesto. The dragon, but a more mysterious kind of evil. One who inhabits the body of the good Raku. That is to say; was the Roku of Raku's mind really created by Lil's coaxing of his darker side, or did it already exist?

That is why Aiden is worrying now. He sees that Raku had an 'eclipsed' side all along. That was why the deity of his world feared him, because it was bound to become corrupted and was meant to exist as the child learned to embrace and fear his abilities. He made another name for himself, and now…

Aiden either has to seal the pact to bury the truth, or to let it out. To devour his friends and family or to destroy his enemies.

The choice for our Chosen is a plain one, yet shrouded in mystery –

Like the God of Shadows! Erebus.

So? As this goes, a shadow is the opposing ego to the self that has no form. It is always beside the person and comes out when it is not expected the most.

Shadows are to the unconscious, so maybe Erebus is on the heroes' side? We'll see!

And the Gemini twin is trying to stay alive long enough to see to his brother's wishes. To have the teams perish, and for the two to finally be freed of their celestial bonds.

Actually, the twins are children to the deity of the cosmic order, so they were actually under the Universal's rule, which is why the godly lion hybrid mauled the eldest twin. To prove that the two had defected from their posts like bad little star children.

It was a warning that Raven did not expect of Kaien to help in performing. He was an executioner. The worst kind. The kind the Titans had trusted, especially with the earth's future.

Cy is worried about how Raven seems to be connected psychically to the Chosen children. He worries they will end up being her end or worse. Aiden also trusts Raku too easily, and that to him is a big red flag.

Ava put her faith in Chris, but Chris's willpower ran out when Hati's old aspect tried to bend the rules. As it was, Ava recalled a flashback of how she and Chris were afraid to go steady. Now, he's gone and she is forced to question her own resolve all over again. She took on this role; and just like Sten back on earth, she thinks it cannot be her destiny by how she's failed to connect and ground herself while on her new home. Sten wanted to be more open, but his position is a stern one. He has little to add, only what his father expects.

Unlike Shoji; who's mom is still alive, but his (faux parents, body snatcher back story) father is long gone. He runs his own company. Though unlike Bruce Wayne, does not live in a fancy manor. He lives in a penthouse where the city of Tokyo is all around him. A watch tower where he can work in peace.

So, Ares, Momus, Hypnos, anyone on Eris's good side has a plan to create so much hatred, what will that do?

Chaos was her name - o! That's where the ball drops, boys and gals! Ehem! Back to Shoji?

That is why he's not shown as having a perfect lap of luxury life. He lives like a normal person at home, and spends most of the money in investing towards global markets (military, hospitals, tech companies, pharmaceutical, the works.)

Even in the part one of these arcs, he was getting ready to invent a vaccine with his own spin (part magic, no good for the dog since it would be a crime) to help the world when the virus had gone global. I'm talking Covid but I'm honestly not the first to do this at all. Worth a shot…Practice at the time. Going into an Eng. major for fictional writing course in winter and fall online, so I was hoping to push past my boundaries a bit.

Hope you all stayed vaccine ready and safe this summer! Still a long haul in the US. I want to be like Harley Quinn with her bat sometimes…But these delusional fantasies STAY in a Fantasy. Never outside it. Anyone who comes to the conclusion is not ok to implement it into the real world with malicious intent. All fun and games until you hit the slammer. I really mean this (bat trope) out of dark humor, but a lot of people are still suffering. So, it is our responsibility to know quarantine cleanliness and to keep moving, even when things seem bleak. Covid isn't dead and maybe its continuation will exist as long as we do. Stay well, read on and stay curious for the next exciting chapter!