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!

9. Chapter 9

Teen Titans; The Chaos Round Part Two; Against All Odds; Chapter 8: Zombie Town Shuffle – The Way Back – Mirror of the Soul and a Window to Your Heart.

/

Ami felt as if the tension in the room was miasma -thick. As blood curdling as blood pudding to the gladiators of ancient Rome, the team seemed to be trapped within this intensifying closer – than – thought – to - be – perceived, fog.

Down the hall, her restless papa felt that someone or something was serious in trying to break their spirits from the inside. Aiden's eyes…they looked possessed, somehow…

Dick paced and was without a clue as to how Anna's 'curse' had come about, either. She had been talking about a space; a place that existed, and should not have at the same time.

~I thought, that was impossible…~ Richard recalled the 'selves' and his misadventures into Richard Ainsley's troubled memories.

~How did Anna find him? ~

Richard turned around to see a fairly, peeved teenaged Hakuro in his Ethereal attire.

A scout.

He knew; from Raven's later warnings, that he had to keep his thoughts safe from being read.

Unlike Raku, Hakuro held grudges and even went a bit ballistic when provoked (not unlike Raku.) Rokuro, the son, had been a ladder down for the Ethereal relic. No, not up for the priest of the past. He was stolen from his ' truest' rites BY the dragon's rules and forced to stay put beside the prince of his own kindred.

Rokuro had only protected Hakuro from his father for so long. Who knows what the kid had been forced to commit to as a mere slave to the dragon's every want? A tool; and now?

He had the council of Celestials to keep his powers bound. Getting to be a gate – keeper had led to the meek being to become, almost stone cold.

Raku's meekness almost matched Hakuro's when Dick had first met the kid - and with shorter white hair!

Hakuro's blind, blue eyes stared back at Dick Grayson as if expecting the truth, or his end to come on swift wings.

"It's been a while." Richard put his guard down. Casual as if unperturbed by Haku's longer hair and ceremonial garb. He had to be harmless, or Hakuro would test him like the other spirits had already.

~Not long enough to know you are the one causing my people such strife. ~ The light - daemon boy frowned and turned his head to the side. ~Your young ones are a thorn right now to the gods. If they tip the balance any- more –

"Who were you talking about, before?" Dick interrupted, hoping Hakuro would steady his stance a little to answer back, fairly.

~It, it was not a whom; not a what…~ The teen gritted his fists and levitated to turn away like Raven could only do. ~It, was a manifestation of the second to third Chosen Candidate. Before …. Before the many others who filled its shoes were born. ~

"That sounds like –

~It was supposed to exist, yet time was in ruins by the time that could come to pass. ~ Hakuro spoke cryptically, in a low voice.

"What – Ah, who? …Was it –

~An Alchemist of the oldest order; one who staked its claim in the past. To manifest destinies that were forbidden! ~

Richard saw Hakuro's clouded eyes as he turned towards the Titan. He, wasn't the one speaking.

"What are you doing with Hakuro's voice?" Dick asked, finding the opening he needed to get a clear answer on how to break the connection.

~No more secrets; yet if I tell you any of what has not yet occurred, it will be bound to in this future. You cannot press at the life - line of the greater whim of Chronos. There has never been an easy way to address the fates. There never will be –

"In your world, maybe." Dick disagreed. "Here, we make our own futures a reality."

~You speak as HE does…~ Growled the tested being, still speaking through poor Hakuro.

~You speak of a hope that should be unobtainable. It should not belong to you, nor to I. The thing your child sought is a being born by the God- Killer. The demi- mortal, the Sand Serpent's spawn. ~

"What are you trying to say? That I can't guess your intentions that easily?" Dick scoffed and knew that the character was trying to pose a threat. It wasn't a very good role for it, unfortunately.

~I say, that the little that you AIM seek to find, the safer your family will be. The book holds all. The truth is Forbidden. ~

Dick's eyes widened. "Then, the forbidden myth! What is it? Was it really the only thing keeping Raku stuck like this? Is that why my son is trying to help him? What is the myth?"

~We are not to know…~ The voice echoed out as Hakuro was let freed from his trance. ~Ugh…The…The voices…You, you saw…? ~ The white-haired relic groggily asked the hero in front of him.

"We have no options left." Hakuro sensed the hero's emotions and fell back into denial. ~NO! WE are not leaving to face CHAOS. ~ He reprimanded loudly.

"Then your allies won't stand a chance against this new threat."

Still, Dick saw in Hakuro that same fear from long ago. He was in pain and didn't know how to let it go.

~Ah…. Yet…The council will not…~

Gar pounded down the stairs and burst through one of the doors down the hall. "Nightwing! Vee and the others woke up! C'mon! Cy is gonna' interrogate 'em!"

"Getting all fired up? Not unlike Gar, these days." Dick frowned and headed B's direction. ~ Could be the stress. No one has left the tower in days. ~

He remembered. Titans' East had gone silent, and North, South, the JLA, not a soul called back out.

Hakuro took a second longer to process the news, though came levitating right after as the heroes tookto the stairs back towards the main briefing room floor.

Hakuro had come bounding in through the stratosphere with Verra and Kayu in dragon form, each. Hakuro had made the crash possible when he'd lost control. If he had anything to hide, it was why the dogs were here in the tower, in the first place.

Verra only turned into his dark Asian dragon form when the world needed him the most. And Kay, was nearly identical in when he used his form (which resembled Calumon by the ears he had, his furry, scaly back was white as the clouds in tall – tales from the cat's past.)

Kori hovered over the white-haired Celestial dog Kay, while Anna tried not to sit too close to the weary Verra as he sat up and groaned along with his cousin.

"Did, we kampai – it – up?...Ow! …My aching! -

"Slam down the brakes on your words, mate…" Kay grunted at Vee, as his Australian and Indonesian mixed together to make his accent sound too proper, instead of spouting Aussie slang. He was also one to question.

Haku entered with Richard and Garfield Logan. Changeling, now.

"Are we sure that they are ready to say something about that crash, earlier?" Zatanna asked and went to back up Dami at the main system's controls. The city was still as a trip to the underworld. Something had to happen, or they'd be trapped in another hole forever – drifting throughout it, time and time again. Lost.

Like Aiden and the kids had been.

"Where is Ava Marie?" Dick asked Anna, as if she'd been hiding what her sibling was planning, out in the open.

"She's just resting up. Long trip back an' all. What gives? You know I try to stay away from her when she's this upset about –

"I just…Wanted to be sure. Sorry, for not trusting you." Dick was given a look by Cy and the rest as he made his way towards Verra's left shoulder. Cy shrugged it off, hoping that Vee would be able to distract them for a while with any news about, the outside.

"Yipes…Dark out, already?" Granted, Vee had seen the sun setting, but he had no idea of how long it had been since then.

"That was yesterday, we think." Beetle was barely hushed by the senior Titans in time.

"Try sleeping for a millennium." Yawned Kay as he pretended to unwind. Just to throw of the heroes, maybe.

"We got enough sleep. Now, time to get down to business." Cy stood up from his own seat and paced on over to the still groggy dogs.

"The city is stuck in some other dimension, like when we fought Roku or Trigon." Dick said this and earned a nod from his second in command as Raven sighed. "Trigon's magic wasn't like this. It took you to where he was at his strongest. This enemy Eris, is stealing the life from anything she can get her hands on."

"Humans…" Kori gulped with Beetle, Gar, and Anna right behind her.

"Anything, but just here. Nowhere else. On Earth, she can taint the minds of anyone who is able to be corrupted.""

"And after that pandemic happened…" Beetle noted. "People began to show the worst sides of themselves."

"Hope isn't enough to stop this threat." Anna shook her head and added. "I saw how Astarte went with Nina to shut down whatever caused this mess to get this way."

"She didn't go that far." Vee cleared his throat and sat up a bit more. "She went to talk to the council about letting the Universal get involved."

"Huh? But that would mean…That she was a spy on their side?" Anna jumped back at the sudden twist.

"She didn't disappear for good. We found this out while Alue was able to cool her jets a ton an' listen." Kay said with his head tilted back, staring at the wide window that kept their only hope right inside.

Outside, that same possible hope was snuffed out, for now.

"We did, and then…She kind of got… intimidated by her 'head of council.' Ended up running us all over the Eternal city for a –

"You got chased? Then…Why did you fly into the tower? Where did you end up…Uh…I mean, When, did you find your way back?" Gar questioned with his eyes as wide as Beast Boy's had always been.

"We ended up in Japan first." Kay finished as Vee got his head back in order. "We definitely, fought like brothers. Ended up fighting to get out of that plane's pull…An' ended up, getting our rears clipped and our wings bound down like a perfectly pounded, holiday poultry."

"Our destination was always to find you guys intact, but fate had other plans." Vee dusted off his human clothes as he changed back into Shoji's body.

Likewise, Kayu did the same.

"We'll heal up faster and save our energy this way for now." Kay winked at the teams without being as low key as his cousin.

"What about this kid, though?" Cy pointed at Haku, who lowered his eyes nervously towards the ground.

"He was angry at us for fighting in Japan, Mate. Eris's influence on this plane actually forced us to fight back by becoming our strongest forms – just to combat the negative effects."

"So, he blinded you until you almost hit Titans tower?" Anna crossed her arms and sniffed.

"But…. You turning into dragons was actually, good?..." Gar wanted to go lie down. Magic was tough to make sense out of!

"Some friends you guys ended up bein' –

"Anna!" Kori swiftly made it to her daughter's side to pull her from the group a second.

"Mom, it isn't right! We have to –

"You are to not command an army here. Do you understand?" Anna was put through repeating an old flashback. Kori gasped as the response had her want to freeze into a steely shell.

She immediately went full commando and put her heels together as she added boldly;

"Yes sir! –

Kori pulled back, her eyes shining with tears of disappointment. "You, are among us…. Your family…Why?"

Anna awkwardly tried to settle her heartbeat back to normal. Crippled by the old habit, she flushed red.

"I…It's just my job, mom…-

"Your job was NOT to fight in a war with the half - powers of our people! Your job was to get good grades and…" She choked back a sob. This stand, this rebellion, still was hurting her. Anna rubbed the back of her neck and nervously, found that she could not speak. Her mother's pain was what had ended a battle once more…

She tried to, but there was nothing she could do! Her mom, hated that Anna wanted to fight!? Why was that so wrong? Her mom was a Titan!

~She thinks you just flew the coop and forgot all about –

~Stop. ~ Anna quieted her insulting thoughts. In a box. They could not distract her tonight.

Dick went after Kori and saw a look in her eyes and Ann's as he passed the child first.

She was to his surprise, still crying. As if she were still that same fourteen year old in his house…Dying to know the whole truth…

/

If Raku's life hadn't gone as planned now, then the end seemed impossible to manifest. No rope round his throat. Eris yawned loudly and while Charl turn back into his pretty boy self by her side.

~Raku here, is non. Finite –

~He's moping. ~ Eris rolled her eyes as the kid below looked deeply into that lost space where Aiden no longer was.

~The longer it takes for you to give up on that toy, the more so you'll seek this place as your new hovel. ~

Eris said this, regrettably and with her eyes lowered to his suffering.

Strike one; she had the power -sources divided.

As if she'd had a plan to kill the little prick right away…

~Aiden was, so different…~ Raku shook his head. ~He's always been so certain that I had to hold onto my pride…Was, it all fear? Did, I do the-

~The gods ARE to be feared. ~ Raku gasped and looked up.

Eris felt as if his young stature made it easier to pull him from that hope for a hero to come and rescue the half- jinn boy.

~You, are still powerful enough, to send me back… –

~Why would we think to do that? My, ex – dear - sire – ling? ~ Charl wondered with his head in his hands. His curious eyes were caramel in hue, intrigued, and almost wider than an imp's.

~You need a break from your, guardians, I think. Don't you believe so, Madame Eris? ~

~I think you should stay. He's right. ~ Eris let her smile spread a bit Raku's way. He turned back to see it as a lump in the poor boy's stomach kept his feet from reaching her throne seat.

~Aiden was here. Why did you capture him? ~

~We wanted to get him to confess, for the sake of freeing you, from one another –

~I don't believe you. ~

Frowning, Raku had to keep on his toes. Cici and Slade could arrive at any moment. His luck was certainly bound to change then.

~Fine, cower forever by your sentence. You can follow, though never will you lead again. ~ Eris sneered and looked away from the pitiful eye sore in her view.

~Charl, go set this whining brat back into his play - pen for me. ~

Charl bowed and sauntered down the stairs slowly. Raku felt his breath hitch as he got ready to bolt for the exit.

~Orders are orders, we have nothing to discuss. Come here –

Raku let up a windy force field and the chase was on.

/

As Raven pictured the world as it had fallen into disarray, Cyborg took to keeping Ami from the fighting and her parents' foul moods.

Amelia still could not shake that from her eyes, she did not see it; yet through the mirror that was Amaterasu's curse to bare, she saw that Jackie had been hiding something from the fourteen-year-old miko – in – training.

~She's never told me any lies before that I didn't call her out on…~ Ami mused over her options; Cy didn't need to hear her side, but it would make her feel safer.

She suddenly held onto her skull and whimpered softly beside her Uncle Vic. He turned his head with concern and knelt down to see if she's been alright since the talk with his rowdy kid, Jackie.

"You a'it, lil' miss sunshine?" He wanted to seem cool and composed, but an Empath as she'd become, an empath such as only herself, could sense the lies hidden. Those faults tucked away, right down to the fibber's very, hardened core.

"Not sure…" She blinked, as if pulled back home by the force of the goddess. There WAS some evil at work…She knew it!

"You talk like…Like your Aunt Rae when she's meditatin'…" Getting lost in the past, in Ami's stare into the unknown, he couldn't help but feel an uncomfortable anguish was over the room. And a familiar kind of fear spread, a kind he wanted out of his thoughts for good.

~There is no Slade, Trigon, Brother Blood, or…~

"Do, you have psychic powers, Amy?" He asked this as she just as soon quickly shook off the question.

"No! W- Why would you think –

"Cause Raven said that 'Apollo' was a god of prophecy, an' most light deity are NOT supposed to be themselves, once…"

"I'm fine, Uncle Vic…Just, worried about my family…" She muttered, with her legs drawn into her chest on the sofa. "Jackie didn't act like how I remember. I lost her once I took my oath and went to Japan with Shoji. Now, he thinks I should go to the places where Amaterasu was worshipped the most in history so…"

"But...Is that what you really want?" He asked her, plain and firm as cold butter. Hard to cut with a knife without some sunny heat, and a properly, sharpened edge.

"It's what I promised that only I could do." Ami answered back, restlessly hoping to check up on her brother's condition soon.

"Can we go see Aiden? You can come with me…Ah, Kaede, and Koko are busy –

"Yah, where did those two run off to anyway?" Cy scratched his skull and wondered, almost aloud.

"With mom and dad." Ami gulped and looked Cyborg I the eye, worriedly. "To talk about me, and what I can do to stop this war from happening."

/

Slade and Cici were not out of the woods yet. A door stood between them and the gates to the living world above. A door; a misplaced relic that did no belong. When Cici tried to enter, she actually succeeded in breaking the lock. However, the criminally cursed seal – guardians at the door were Jackals and serpents that pushed and bit at her as she forced herself away from what lay beyond those stony walls.

~Where in the world did this door come out of? It is brimming with magic! ~ A moth to a flame, Cici wanted to break it again, and again, until Slade had finally seen enough.

~Why? We must pass through it to reach our destination! ~ She protested as she was pulled away from trying to smash the door to smithereens.

"You are being reckless, my dear. This door will open, but not for you or I. It is in our way. It does not want us to go through –

~A lesson to you for such tomfoolery. ~ Cici crossed her arms and mirrored Alicia by how she spoke.

~A door here, is a challenge. If we cannot cross this way, then we must return from whence we've only just begun –

"And fighting, isn't your strong suit, I take it?" Slade added, jokingly.

~I would rather conser…. Huh…I see. ~ Cici pushed a sweating wave of blonde from her cheek.

~Apologies. It must be the curse at work –

Slade wasn't sure if she was just a spoiled princess, or if the curse still had him by the balls. He swiftly reached out and gripped her; had her full force against his chest, almost as sweaty as her limp strands had become along her untamed scalp line.

She shook with rage. Her wings had retracted themselves automatically before they'd even come across the lone, magical doorway. She still needed time to recharge. No wings, claws, or magical spells until her powers were up to par against this…Madman!...

They could take all the time they needed. Slade made her shake, even if he was only half a threat to begin.

"I'm not sure Cecelia, if the curse is what Really brought you to trust me…" He smoothly let the words slip out. "Your powers mean nothing to you here. Eris's curse is just a way for you to hide it…How weak you really are…"

As she trembled in shock, Eris's laughter flooded past the dark child's senses. A nervous woman's ruse.

"Foolish sorceress." He let his breath tickle the side of her neck. It wasn't enough to stop him! No power over sound waves! Damned be it all!

"You wanted a little adventure like this one. YOU wanted to be bad for once and face the music…"

~I've never been perfect in their eyes, not even my own! ~ Her bravado diminished as Cici felt her cheeks grow hotter. This, was unbelievable…. The cur –

"Your lust is no curse, princess…" He hissed as she gasped by how this embrace felt as similar as a boa at her back…

"It's simply, all you. All of it –

~Ah! ~

Eris had to be controlling the bastard.

As she swatted away his hand, she came to see his eye looking back. The same one she'd tried to 'fix' by her own power…Eris had only played along. She'd controlled the eye…

~I can still curse you! ~

As soon as his little captive had begun to glow golden, she fell silent with one warming kiss on her lips. He pulled back as if it had never gone on, not to shake her bridges into the water.

"Now, do you believe me?" He looked back curiously as a hoot owl at the witch; the shocked witch, the harassed immortal!

"You are more human that they made you to believe of yourself." He looked at Cici with her frozen lips, shivering. Not of cold, yet of lust. Of desire.

~No…. n- no! How…How could you cancel my –

"You were never the first. An unlucky Raven was unable to fight me when I had powers that mirrored her father's wrath. Another story, if you want to keep going."

~I'm of an Immortal's pure bloodline! ~ She snorted back. ~ Of…the rites your forefathers could never fathom in all their long years to bare! ~

She shakily wiped her upper lip. Fear spread past, a past she could never overcome started to bubble from her awakened 'stream' of consciousness.

"You are part - harpy, and that is something you THINK you control." Slade pointed this out as Cici saw a cluster of feathers bush up from the child's elbow.

It all made sense!... She gaped at the horrific sight.

She'd not been hated or despised by the council for failing to participate in her role as a lunar relic, she'd turned their expectations to –

"You made your mother's council upset, when they found out about you…"

~Lilu did this! It was already recorded…Already –

"If your sibling had powers, then why not you?" He wondered and masked his concern as he'd done with Terra. Cici was once a meta – human. That was why she was of half - blood. Why Alicia was not at all the same, her light having been something, extraordinary.

"You lived. You and…Your sister…You don't remember…. Do you?"

As if the clock had jabbed away at the sorceress's remaining hours, Cici broke down on the hard floor in tears.

"I …. I wasn't built for…Perfection! I was a beast born by a cursed witch! Please! Alicia…Forgive…."

"You were not an Immortal, always." Slade saw how Cici had held onto her warped memories of the past, and now…He saw them through her eyes.

/

~Alicia was perfect in ways I could not…She was the dawn while my life became her ending. ~

/

Unto…Dusk.

Catalina's body was in such agony that the mid -wife had been ordered to leave and seek a priest fro the high lands to quell the queen's remaining spasms.

She'd leapt into bed with a god…All women who did this birthed a monster! Evil gorgons from planes known in story – books from the long – since- forgotten – history of her kind.

Catalina had sensed unrest from her betrothed. She'd against her family's wants for a better suitor, picked a man by his poetry and lust.

He had a name; yet through her groaning and whimpering, could not recall his face well. She sat up and seethed. ~He had a home; he left and did not return. No treasure unmeasurable could fill the void I now feel within my womb…He has left us all to suffer! ~

Catalina had never lived inside one time; not in one lifetime. She was born to the past, as time moved differently in his world. It was hers to bare. His kingdom would be now her everlasting prison.

The jabs from her stomach were wild. To be, her first born inside…. This child, would take to her roost and raise the sun high in the sky. It would dim or brighten the moon, with each day's passing.

Had Queen Amalia of the Spirit Plane of Northern Africa, had this much pain when she'd been with child? Did her woes seize as her prince held onto his princess's hand…did this even occur that Catalina had shooed off those who could save her life?

Strength is not a material piece of metal or gold…~ She reminded herself of her father's words before their fight in Catalina's past. She did not recall her true name back then. She had one, yet it remained a mystery. Catalina was what she was called on this plane where she and her king had no soon parted. He had come to her from the stars.

A traveler among them.

The babe kicked again. This time, by shutting away Catalina's morbid thoughts. As if to say; 'I'm here now, so do what you can to allow me a breath of life, no fussing before I should have this wish…'

~Such a wise child you'll be, to drag your mother from her lost romances…~ Sighed the queen as she quieted the child's bouts with her strong words.

~If only I could grant that wish. Without pain, without suffering to befall ye…~She cooed to her unborn bundle as the kicking soon seized.

~If you can hear my voice well, then I am very proud of how strong I'll know you to become. Whether prince or princess of this kingdom, you will soon know love. You shan't be without your mother's caress whilst your eyes hath yet to awaken to this new universe…~

/

As the words fell from the advisor's lips of the death she was soon to overcome, Catalina held back her tears until later that evening. Her child was always close, for this was a spirit nation connected to a human existence. She would not be as the poor queens in the mortal divide; who only birthed and never truly loved.

She had to become a ruler, as it was stated that she'd have to make the council consider of her Daia bloodline.

"There has not been a generation of women to rule over Solaris. There never will, so why should we consider an outside as its queen?"

A man with a balding skull, short as a troll and with a long goatee, stood in his brown robed and ruled out the possibility of a Matriarchal society ever having its day to shine.

This spirit realm was very kind to all women as venerated as goddesses to the lower tiers, already. It was only a way to feel welcomed. To waste the council's time.

Catalina did not back away. She had her six-month-old Cecilia in arm as her voice resonated A maiden to her aid was there in case the debate brought any harm to the queen's new joy. The blonde in her child's features was identical to her mother's lustrous waves of flaxen and sunlight. Maybe, a goddess in the making.

"It seems your king has been lost to our capital. This is true. We suggest you take on a suitor that is of his family's –

"That is human – speak." Catalina stated loudly. "WE are not human by law. We are protectors of their plane and ambitions. I too wish to leave your council with my word, that this capital will be the responsibility of no one but the blood of Daia and Crescendo. Not through a bloodline, yet by rite."

"Then you speak of a unified state run by what you believe is best? Have you considered your words, Pr-

~QUEEN. ~

A shadow fell over the world as its haunting shades left the cold to return on that September afternoon.

~She is no goddess, never will her lies depend on suffering as such. I too have come to realize it well. The spirit are no more than shadows of the humans we sacrifice to. ~

The robed men fell over and bowed until their knees ached.

~Lady HECATE! ~

Catalina knew that her promise had come. She'd begged the goddess to send her along to this plane. Now, she would be told to return the favor…

~Queen Catalina, was it? ~ The crone quizzed with a wry smile. The old hag appeared in her younger guise as a dark haired and robed figure. Almost to mirror the beauty of Eris on a sunnier day in time.

~You recall the date in this era, only ye should know of it. ~

"Yes, and so be it shall, Queen o' the Under - realms." Bowed Catalina as the maiden to her right held onto the fortunate heir of Solaris.

"My king has gone from us. Taken by a monster who shows not its face, for I have kept it from this city –

~The soul - keeper is to blame, know this;

Hecate looked the council and Catalina in the eye, mercilessly expecting action to be present thereon.

~A face as a king's yet he takes in order to bind ye to his will. You left your one true realm before this could be discovered. All, your mother, father, they are no longer –

"This is nothing I can reverse by my power." Catalina apologized to her family in the past. Dead now, and never to seek out her unworthy features -dusk upon the land she once kept sacred.

~Your energies will not be so, yet your kindred, your young will have power, just as your mother wished…~

"A prophecy, o great –

Silence! The rest is not yet fulfilled! ~

The bald-headed mage dipped his head back down and trembled at the creature's rage.

Catalina; from hence forth, the tides shall turn. For to remain this realms' queen and ruler, you must abide by the laws of both Crescendo and Daia as one whole entity. Never to part, for if this should come to pass by my mark unto your world's choice. ~ Hecate warned.

Then she shall reign not upon ye, yet utter destruction of your borders shall come to pass. By your child's hand. Your babe is more than magic can give; she will one day inherit a great destiny…

The council looked unto the babe in the defenseless chamber – maiden's arms. "My queen?" She breathed. "What is the goddess predicting to us?"

The child did not coo, yet slept as if the moon had already risen on high in the night air.

"Is it to be not one, yet two? As you spoke in our past?" Catalina called back as a whirling portal had Hecate to return to her no – man's land in Hades' steed.

Patience, for the sun and moon cannot ever meet…. Raise the child well…Goodbye and know thy prophecy must be fulfilled!

Moon and sun, could never meet…

The council eyed the babe and the queen, then bowed at her grace as if this was something that only they could follow on about, mindlessly.

"You are indeed a great asset to this temple! The goddess spoke to you as kindred, how marvelous! Take note; the babe and others born to this royal MUST be sacredly kempt from danger until they are endowed with magic meant to support the queen's further rule! To Crescendo and Daia as one!"

The joyful chanting was unheard of, as if the queen's men were all possessed and ill with fever.

"My queen…" The maiden in charge of holding the babe shook and weakly made her way to the royal woman's side.

"I am sorry, Adrianne…It is, against her will if I should not ask your aid in this…"

"No, no…My queen. Yet, the child…" the two looked into the stunning, sleeping face of the peaceful daughter of Queen Daia.

"She is of the Crescendo, your power is…"

"Then, this is not the last…" Catalina clutched her chest as the feeling leaped inside her. ~Another. Of the sun. Never to meet. ~

"Tonight, is adjourned." Catalina announced and set everyone's mind at ease. Those who still held o to their sanity nodded and walked off. Those fools of the higher council needed to be monitored for any various side - effects. The influence of a goddess such as Hecate was not unheard of, yet she was not known to arise from her world to meet those protected by her magic and prophetic knowing.

Catalina was not as the ones on this plane. She had an Immortal power and was not afraid to keep it safe from the snooping creatures such as this council of dregs.

Her head spun round, as if to sense the presence of an old foe. Neither showed, so she turned in for the night and said no more. That night was also the date in which the queen had taken the throne, to rule and eventually fall as the fates allowed, for any blood to be spilt under Hecate's watchful eyes.

/

Years had come to it, as the third-year old child, Cecilia Daia Crescendo was coming to nurture her strengths as a princess of royal passage.

Her mother; the noble – hearted Queen Catherine now, was a gem to her people. The two lived not with one male to rule them, yet under the wise eyes of a goddess they thrived for under for those, moons at a time.

Hecate came and went to monitor the child's magic, while Catherine spoke of one other worry that had her up all hours of the night.

~A second burning? In your body?~ Hecate looked squarely into the queen's eyes as her two green eyes made the world stop.

~Unheard of. Were you left with a curse from some vile wretch in our time apart, child? –

Hecate in truth, had been the unofficial teacher and God parent to Catherine since then at the council meeting in the child's past. Her role was to halt a disaster by any means.

"Cecilia has grown in the days since that prophecy in which you spoke." Catherine smiled at the fact that now, the world had a female ruler who could not fail. With the heart of a goddess watching the council, she had been truly forgiven for leaving Solaris that era before.

"You come to me to know what ails, well and good…Yet my body does not last against its pull…"

~An influence by another. ~ Answered the goddess, as a cryptic air of intrigue filled the room.

~A dark storm, no…A river washing away the line between earth and sea. ~ Predicted the goddess as she attempted to find the reason for the queen's acute illness.

~The torch – fire, does it scald? ~

"Nay, it aches, at my stomach and below…As if there is something left to fight…"

Catherine rubbed lightly at where the pain met the itch she spoke. A strange desire to –

~You have a taint! ~ Hecate pulled back and saw lust in the queen's eyes.

"Is that so…Oh, dear…Must, lie down. –

~If you do, the one inside your dream – life will devour your senses whole. ~ Hecate coaxed the woman to stay awake. "It has fed on my loneliness this long…I know not how…-

~Say not another word, child…~ Hecate returned to her crone body and pulled out a vile of purple antidote from her robes. ~This will let you to rest, without the dream – biter to nip at your feet…Do rest…~ Catherine took the potion and eventually was still. Her body no longer willing to succumb to that awful affliction.

/

Weeks passed; the moon's glow was bright. A banquet and ball took place on the evening when Catherine's woes had long been kept silenced.

Little Cecilia had not yet known of her mother's magics long. She'd chosen to find her maidens and played with them as her parent and queen spoke to diplomats and princes with her words alone to sway them.

"The Elven Kingdom of Knoll hath vanished! It was a spectacle for the ages – a puzzle. We would not be here had it not been for your relative's company. Lord Richard Ainsley of the Scottish spirit worlds o' olden was bright and brave as a sun deity. How say to ye, of your quest for a match - made? Pray tell? Is this fellow, close?"

A pompous male; Prince Reginald from the Kingdom of Dosselwarf and Oswald to the West of spirit had known Catherine's husband's family for a millennium. The two men went to the same school in the past, learned all it took to be kings into their old age. He was still red haired with a bushy brow and a minor stash to speak of. He was almost forty now, yet Catherine was to turn thirty-five later than year. She looked to be in her twenties and never needed extra care to do so. The sun's rays were her blessing on the world. At night however, she bathed under the sheen of a full moon's bow.

A universal candidate - to - be, maybe?

Hecate watched silently from beyond her orb's eye as the party went into full swing.

She saw at the gates; a man arriving, with his cloak and garb below, very 'off' to this timeline.

~It, is…~ Hecate turned away with a smile as cunning as the old fox's.

~He hunts when the sun has gone to rest. Have warning to he, Catalina. ~ Hecate said through the speak. Catherine nodded and awaited the arrival of her country's guest.

He came in as if the sun had a dimmer setting to it. A cloak of autumn reds for the season and a hat atop his head was removed once the male had waltzed by the doorway. The doorman waiting had a look of awe on his face. The heat from the man's presence was unearthly by spirit world standards.

"My Lordship. How you grace us with your divine presence…Here, tonight…"

Catherine took to a small smile and a graciously thought out, bow before the old 'poser' could seek her face out of the crowd properly.

"It's been a century in your time, in our time? You and I would be mates, crone and wretched one o' these!" He galloped over with his trust in his stunning wardrobe and his dashingly well - cut appearance.

As if out of a stain glass image to the highest remark, a god inside and out.

Catherine knew that drawl. She halted and made her patrons believe that the Queen had almost stuttered, or stubbed her foot. Hecate, by now, must have been laughing herself into a sickness by the old crow's jest.

"Sir, So-

"Call of me, Lord Kaien from the Eastern - most of the spirit planes. I have no fear of this time, while ye be here to light my way-

"Charleton! You are in the presence of this realm's ruling order, do you mind not what you spake of! Do not sully –

"And what have I to hide?" Catherine turned to the red as a pepper, Reginald. Her face was alight with a goddess's temper.

"So, sorry…I must apologize, immediately." The frustrated prince backed away while Catherine took to this 'off' figure in his funny dress and proposal.

"You've been missed, even after Solaris's demand to unify came about."

The male; Kaien, spoke of a great demand to strengthen the light city's walls.

"Why do you remain in this 'Crescendo' territory? Ah, yeah, I heard of' it! Another secret society blossomed forth from the bosom of a past – war amidst the chaos. She's a real keeper, majesty. " He prodded. "Have you decided to stay near -mortal? That cannot be, even you know it. Your –

"My rites are strong when I am not venerated as before. Beside my mother and father's throne." She spoke this in a lower voice near the end. Looking out towards a balcony that called to she -the queen of a grounded sun and soon – to – be - moon.

"You are well missed by your family, the one that still holds the country together…"

"What of the ones you were sworn to uphold as your heirs?" Catherine soon interrupted.

"Let us go for some fresh air." The older, godly man redirected the queen towards the balcony she'd been pondering earlier. She nodded. Not refusing his gesture, they said less as she walked across the floor to his arm.

They did this at the wait of no one. The balcony was right before Catherine's two eyes. Waiting to turn into a staircase to another plane. Was he here to abduct her? The son of the Sun gods?

"You were once called, Apollon. Have you not remembered it?" Catherine recalled the face he'd once held. A strong man with a wily grin even then.

"Call, Lady Cassandra's prophecy better than my own." Getting down to their own musings, Kaien reverted to his newest face. He almost rolled his eyes to the sound of himself speaking her name.

His red hair, beard, and lightly sun-tanned complexion made him seem younger. He was old. Old due to his association with having once BEEN the god Apollon in Catalina's time.

The past masked their shame. Washed away were words of regret and the respect they'd held in the council of olden days.

As the moon stayed a perfect view from far away; on the ground, Catherine told her old god - father of her babe and of Hecate's prophecies. Of her aching belly and the urge that came with a good night's slumber.

"Some how this sounds like a demon. It bein' well at work, toying with your devotion to your capital and state of affairs as its last ruler –

"A demon?" Rasped Catherine as it came to be so simple in her eyes. "Hecate claimed it curable with time –

"A goddess fears for her children, yet she cannot keep them breathing as the fates deny this act of kindness."

"Then, am I to grovel? What does it mean? A fire in…"

"A life, a flicker…Oh gods a many…." Grasping Catherine's hands to his own, he tried to find her heart behind that false exterior she'd had no time to master in her current state.

"Allow me to aide Lady Hecate, for your sake. In a moon or so, I shall send the Guardian born under I. He shall –

"He is not my savior, nor should you cross the teachings of Hecate herself!" Exclaimed a troubled Queen Catherine. She pulled away from his reassuring grip. "If you wish to stay, I shall let you to this. Yet, you are not to cross us here. This land was stolen and given to one who knows it far better than the council of such a plane." She spoke of this fact, though not lightly as her green eyes show to shades of emerald and sapphire towards their depths.

The earth was in her stare, as if to say that the plane below this one had a prophecy of its very own to be spared by her sympathy towards its kindred.

"If I should cross anyone, let it not be you…My Queen –

"Enough of those games we've played in times past." Sniffed the maiden as she turned her back to the fool in golden and reds.

"My royal guard shall come if you do not heed my word." Her eyes shot coldly back towards him.

"Now."

Kaien's spirits drooped, yet he'd known Catalina in her youth. She was too kind and loyal a soul to turn away a single spirit of good intent.

"He may show, or you may chose to send him packing, so be it." His eyes lowered as the male returned to his spirit world disguise. "Enjoy this night, my queen." He dropped the honorifics and sighed. With a weary bow, the male left her standing where none could come searching.

Catherine picked herself up and returned to her guests, knowing that was never the last hour she'd see Apollon in action.

/

A small coo from the next room had Cecelia to pry herself from the maiden's arms. Her mother's voice was there. It always was so clear, so gentle.

Today, was very different. So quiet and as if all of her strength had left her body.

"Mother? Mama?" Cici, in her silvery day – clothing, swept across the hall to her mother's doorway.

"Mama! Let me in! You are ok!? Mama!"

"That is enough Princess Cecilia! Your mother wished not to be disturbed, you must-

"NO!" Cecilia let her magic undo the locks as the doors swung open to reveal a sweating body holding close to the sheets. A babe in her arms as warm as the sun…

"Catherine is…. Your mother –

"Mama!" Cecilia did not wait for an explanation. She ran into the bed chamber and saw through the façade that was her weakened mother's remorse, for it was never this way.

"No, let her stay. Adrianne…" Catherine spoke this even with having birthed a child as powerful as a meteor god's own.

"Ah, yes…My queen." Honorifics, those hum – drum formalities were not important between the two. Adrianne had been with the queen for far longer, thus the pair remained close.

The doors shut softly behind her as the family of now three, celebrated such a day inside the Queen's bed chamber.

"Who is that, mama?" Cici ducked her head when arms so tiny flailed out to catch a lock of her wavy hair.

"She is your sister, Alicia Daia Crescendo. You will be there to help her learn when I am unable…So, do say hello." She saw the child's face as Cici watched the blonde babe and its sweet features. Almost as her pictures had seemed.

"She, is my sister? She is much smaller than how the painter made of me to be! How interesting, her hands are –

The two had just met, and it had already turned into something special. Something that only Cici could see.

She saw the sun gazing back, and white hair, not blonde. She, was some sort of Celestial, this sibling. She HAD to be protected!

"Mama, when may I hold my new sibling? Are you in need of Adri-

"You are almost four, my child! You excel with all you have been given. Do, please…Allow me to sleep…Would you come join me, dearest? So, we might rest, together…" Cici smiled and let out a tiny yawn. Her mother's side was the most comfortable place to be. She was face to face with the slumbering Alicia. How she'd never let the child be without love, for she was so very perfect in every way.

"Hello, Alicia…I am going to protect you, don't you fret…We…will be together…for…ever…."

The three slept; as Maidens and mother.

Yet a Crone was yet to come of this joy and slumber so perfect…

/

The present setting in this memory loop was now at the time of one other visitor;

Rather, Cecilia did not wish to recall the meeting with Lil, as if to bring her back from her deepened departure.

As the times went along, Autumn arose.

As promised, Kaien had sent a male of his Guardian kindred to aide the children of Queen Daia.

The male was nothing of what the children had pictured. He had an interesting name that made Cici giggle at the very utterance of it. She was scolded for this, yet did not forget her promise to her new baby sister, Alicia.

Alicia was dainty and small, very coy for her age and cried easily when provoked. Cici had never had this problem when she was small, yet she was recorded to have thrown tantrums similar to that of a poltergeist attack.

A few months since, there had been a birth to a neighboring kingdom in Scotland's spirit divide. A small, baby boy had lived and was now in the care of one other.

The Queen had been called away to seek out the Princess of that neighboring land. She was in danger, and her family was unprotected from this new threat that had its people hiding indoors, away from their families during the dark – hours of the day.

"The demon did this…How, in gods…" Catherine looked to the face of her dearest ally; Princess Lorelai Ainsley had known her family, almost as sisters to the same half – moon sect. They were close, and now…

Someone had lain with the Princess, had spoken to her as to bring about her end.

The babe was of this congregation. The prince had been banished and was no where to be found. Catherine took to saving Lorelai and her son, Richard Ainsley Noburo in order to see to the boy's father and his plans to capture the pair.

He was what they believed to be at the time, daemon or malevolent spirit. A being that had come to reap the benefits after Lori had fallen in love with the trickster deity.

Just as the two women had made it to the gates of the Sky Kingdom keep in the clouds, the safest place now felt like the most desolate of hiding spots. It was remote as a cabin in the woods, far north. A place where Celestial, Gods, and Daemon of good intent could only enter. As a safe house for the babe and his mother, Lori was stricken by her abuse so much so, that she refused to leave her child's side, even as she slept.

For nights, Catherine stayed by Lorelai's side and used her power to see to the maniacal king's capture. He'd been banished with the curse cast unto him by his princess. His queen to be.

The baby slept and was very quiet for a child not even a year old. His mother, was still and never smiled.

Four months it took, yet Lori started to open up again. She was with her son as she promised him the world and her devotion – to help and watch him grow into a fine young man.

That all changed, once the night rolled in on the thirteenth day.

The months did not matter, for a new face entered the halls and brought Lori to find love all too quickly.

The male was the son of a family that had no such nobility, yet knew to be hospitable to royal names such as this princess's.

One night, by candlelight, the con - man made himself known.

He lured and persuaded Lorelai to join him. To dine by the moon's glory. She answered, as if in a trance. None knew where she had gone off to. The castle was large, and he had learned every inch of it. Every crevice, crack, bump.

The night then, Lori sipped from her cup –

Poison, as he looked to see to her death as quickly as it would come.

She used her power to curse him; to steal his ability for a time to transcend to the higher planes. She would not let her son be taken away.

The craft proved a success; yet by the time Lori was found, poison still on her breath…

/

Catherine brought the young boy home with her. He hadn't any family left to protect him. His mother's family was of very few and could not guard the child against the king's influence for longer than a single month.

She saw this as a chance to see to a healing process. As soon as the arrangements had been made, Catherine and her adoptive son Richard, returned to the queen's capital to seek retreat.

The boy was soon of the age of three, Cecilia was six, and her sibling was about the same age almost as the child Richard.

The children grew up together. As if this had always been a family without ridicule, Catherine had convinced the council to see to it that the boy recalled only that THIS was always and had been his family since his birth.

He could not recall her, face or eyes. It all seemed strange to Cecilia, even as she played her mother's game well enough.

Alicia looked up to Richard and worried her mother that the two would one day be betrothed. She felt it unwise to use a human topic to blue –print her children's futures. Catherine believed when the time was right, Richard would have his own territory to oversee to.

A great plight soon arose and too soon, took the poor boy at ten years of age from his adoptive mother. She was forced once again to retreat to the restructured castle where Lori had lost her way.

The child had been coaxed out to a place where the walls met tall vines while under Catherine's care on her plane. The two had left to seek an antidote for a venomous snake bite that was no ordinary affliction.

Catherine saw to this and left her two daughters in good hands. At least…This she prayed to be accurate…

Alicia and Cici had suspected foul play among the hooded few to her mother's council. She descended to the catacombs below and met her fate; a wicked beast – woman with a hungry owl's gaze upon her form.

Alicia stayed up top and out of danger. Cecilia faced the demoness as she feasted on the blood of the fallen monks.

She was then forced to flee, for this demon was an A - class rank. She could do great harm to the kingdom and its people. She fled to the top of a great hill where a procession to the goddess was about to begin.

That was when….

Cecilia's magic became not her own.

And Lilith's rule soon started the child's pilgrimage. As her powers were no longer of the council's to control.

/

Lady Catherine returned, but without her son. It had been a face - off against the king, the boy's true father had come to claim his heir. In the process, as he'd achieved this, and also tainted Lady Sayumon of the celestial planes, he'd set fire to the place where Lori's last wishes had not been met.

Catherine soon was met by further misfortune. Cecilia was long gone and Alicia could not recall what had become of her elder sibling, as she cried alongside her parent that hour of night - fall.

/

Cecilia was in training for years.

As a sorceress, in secret she learned how to use a harpy's wings to beat faster than any hawk or falcon. Lilith was what seemed a fair enough teacher. She stood beside Veronika Bethel, Lord Roku, and those that Lilith had swindled from their first futures. Replacing their visions with her dreams of domination and conquest.

She had much to discover, such as her song. A voice that only immortals could wield. Lilith taught her young pupil the magic of a child to her own sect, in order to trick her family.

She did this and eventually returned as Cecilia Daia; a prodigal songstress beside the elegant Andrea Grotto in London's presently, present day.

Alicia eventually convinced Cici to give up her conquest. As it stood, Cici's wrathful vengence was still was not a satisfying one. She volunteered to become a pupil under Sorcerer Gregory. Despite Lilith having taught the young woman an earlier craft, Cici walked the path of one who could seek change. As a snake sheds its skin, she could transform as well with each new season.

Roku took hold and filled Cici's head with the hidden longing for her sister Alicia. Alicia had expired in order to fulfill her role and become the next beside Aaron Stellanova and Hakuro to awaken. As Alicia, not Alice or Arisu, she was finally revealed to have been resurrected partly by Slade's pairing with the dragon's wants during the earlier of his rises.

Alice was also hiding that she'd been inside a cursed shell. She had not a way home, so her reincarnate Alicia made its way to Lisa Viscado and was now a vessel to this unseen entity.

Cici had lived as a pupil of Lilith, her magic was not expired to have her the same as Veronica. Though, Ronnie died in order to no longer see anymore pain that she'd caused.

Cici had lived to meet Alicia once more.

Lisa Viscado was a vessel for the Ethereal side to Alicia's form and magic. Similar to Hakuro, she was reborn to find Aaron Stellanova, who currently resided within Aiden Grayson.

Cecilia had aided her mother Catherine Daia in Rome with the task to seeing to the representation of her kindred while on earth, which…

She tried this, though felt tied down. Alicia had been replaced. Cici; now beside her mother, found that she needed a greater way to BE.

Hecate then, had made a promise off sorts. Cici became a candidate and vassal choice to the underworld goddess beside Vespa of the Guardian dog's brood.

Cici had met them, the guardians…

She'd never been sane or lacking in grief long enough to wish to join them…

The one she despised most, was Aaron Stellanova for taking Alicia from her.

She had this longing deep until her exterior broke down under the pressure.

The black widow spider deity and she made a pact. She would bare its mark and continue as Hecate's pupil to know of her own darkness.

Yet, she was restless. Afraid to become the crone, she fled and, in the end she sided with Eris - to give the gods a taste of their own medicine.

Of failure.

She still failed.

Slade; while here, his hands, were not as Eris's. They commanded her to seek out her worst fears and to embrace her pain or shy from it.

/

~It was their undoing, I told myself…" As the magic wore down, Cici's curse over Slade and herself had broken. His voice was human again. As was her own…But, then who would defy Eris!

"You can always summon your strength." Slade tilted the blonde's head up to meet her eyes with his own staring her down, breathless.

"It was never gone; you always had that power inside you."

"I…Find that I am a rejected child, that was why Lilith took to me, because I was weaker…"

"You are alive, Alicia was the one who died –

"Because I helped them to destroy her!" Cici bawled out and struggled from his strong grip.

"Alicia, was to be betrothed to her half – relative…Rokuro, and I was to be sure that this came to pass…Even if I was wary of the dragon's intentions…" She stammered.

"That was in the myth, I read it." Slade nodded and saw as Cici's tears were drying up. She had to be at peace with herself to be of any help to his mission. Their freedom depended on her getting a hold of HER reality.

"As two vessels to Ethereal bodies, it would make the impossible, possible for the king to open a way to the Universal and overtake it by his army's…He had this in mind. Very much, Lilith drove the king's ambitions. She whispered my role to me, that I was also unclean and had to take what belonged from the Daia and Crescendo factions. They were for Alice and I…Mother, was not there. She hid, like the coward she was…"

She wiped her nose and continued.

Richard did not wish ill of his father. He'd sacrificed himself to help his allies. Arianna of the Star Capital was his beloved, Alicia was just…He did not want her. I DID…"

"You wanted her, so that no one else could –

"In the tower, before the king's fall…Alicia had come to her relative's chambers. It was a death wish on us all. As she…"

As if the love in her heart had to turned to ink and soot, Cici clenched her stomach and turned to steady herself. A queasy union. They had loved and lain, but on the god's behalf. Then, at the halls of that hour…. When the tower had risen to meet the heavens in the desert, Alice had been lost. Her whole body broken by that goodbye.

Her one hour, up.

As if she had lost her soul in the process. Roku had made Alice in to a walking doll of rags and war-torn body parts…

"Alice was…Rebirthed by a curse…You found her at the ruins of that temple…"

"In Tibet, she was…quiet and a very strange face. Compared to the locals, Alice was not –

"She was incomplete. As was her time…Roku ended that, in order to avoid his own destruction."

Cici clenched her jaw and saw into the past. What he saw then; of Alice's mangled appearance, how she stayed alive by the king's power. A curse, and believed herself one and the same…His, child….

"Alicia had the dawn in her voice, in her wake, as you say." Slade spoke. "He muffled back her cry and made 'Arisu' to prevent the real 'Alicia Daia' from awakening."

Slade said this with a flowing tone. This was such a drama to her, that Cecilia believed herself a player in it so greatly.

That SHE had anything to do with….

"You, helped Alice to end her own –

"What…. What are you saying?"

"I said, you were involved." Slade stopped her.

Here she was. Young and restless in her hapless ways.

Lost to the past, stuck in the present for all eternity.

"How did she die? The king did it himself, he executed his kin. However, you said to me that you helped him to erase her…-

"I…Helped her…. To keep her memories! ~ Cici's wings bushed out by her explosive anxiety.

"If…If she…H-had…. lost them…. she…She wouldn't be my sibling anymore! She suffered, because I tried to do as he! To bring her back in pieces!~

She shook while he tried to coax the wild harpy girl closer. Her wings batted wildly as a bird in flight's; stuck in mid -air, afraid to be grounded in the dirt.

~She was worn out, mis - used by her ongoing aid to the wild king…. She serviced no one but her brother's…. He was a coward! He let her die! ~

~Is that why you wanted to go after Raku and Aiden? Or Robin, even? Both the son and the father took away the only precious thing in your life –

~Alicia was my dawn; we were prophesized to never BE as one! It was not so! I…Wanted her to shine, for I to be lighted by her glow every hour when I could never be so close…My wings, they would burn to dust…She is, an Ethereal! I…Am nothing…."

She felt at his arm and tugged at it. Her claws returned to hands as they shook. "My sister was as false an image as I'd made of myself! I could not…Save them…My family… -

"You ran away, that was the first mistake you ever made." Slade nodded to Cici as she turned her head to the side and wept, bitterly defined by his words.

"I made myself feel safer, while my sister cried…. I disappeared, for we could never –

"You might have been together, had you stayed and taken her to somewhere safer than that hill." Slade wondered also this to himself. Maybe, it was fated…In Cici's world, human laws did not apply.

"I wanted to, but…"

"You were a child; Lilith was a monster." Slade said this with a growl in this tone to keep her alert. "Of course, yet you ran into that monster's arms…Were you afraid YOU would hurt her? Them? That it was the only way to stop yourself?" Slade had it, the last spark to trigger.

"I…I…" She was shocked, at her own memories turning against her. Imperfect. Her mother, had sired a moron for a daughter.

"She was beautiful and bright. What then, were you…?"

"I…Was the darkness, the unconscious to form –

"You had a path; you could have been anything else." Slade let go as Cici stood numbly in her sorceress's guise of black and lace. "It was all you. Alice had her trust in those who knew her better than she knew herself. She was too young to know about Alice or that future that you 'siblings' shared."

He, was right. Still, the bells of that day had her recall times spent in harmony with her sun sibling. Her lunar essence was wisdom, wile, and also…Warmth…

"Your true name –

~I am…. Sanguis Lunae…." She breathed with a small smile.

~Leader to be…Of the sect of the FULL - Blood Moon. ~

/

A shard of power crackled from beneath Eris's veil. She howled out in pain while Raku watched from within his cage. A part of her influence had shifted.

He had to know, was his comrade to blame? Were they finally free?

Eris groaned and lifted her eyes to Ares; he was not a very good body guard; he'd let those rotten traitor's escape!

~Go…. Bring…. Me…. THEIR HEEEADS!~ She BELLOWED out her command as her simple sibling obeyed in the midst of his silent dispersal. He had his rag – tag team of shadow walkers took to the halls. The mind -controlling meta – male was like a demi God. He knew how to drag you under…And pull you back into madness as no immortal should ever be cursed to allow of their own kind!

/

Raku, Charl, and Eris were in the throne room; isolated from the warring stage outside and above so if any, who could possibly hope to bring them down without having blood on their hands spilt, beforehand?

That seemed to be all she could mask of her insecurities. Eris had been poisoned as a goddess. Her love for all had never manifested itself as her role was to taint all lovers whereat, they stood. Could she then; with her sultry coos and glamorous visions, not love for Herself? Did Ares now shy from their plans to rule the Earth, together? Was he out to see her as a dead – one? A lifeless husk?

Ares had left to catch the two's enemies for good. Was he bound to return at her side?

Raku was, a pest. Nonetheless, he was also a tool. She wanted knowing beyond a god's expertise. Raku was no god then , unlike now where his powers had been caped by a guardian of the golden dawn.

~Aiden, was he after? ~ She sneered at the cradle which held the boy – king inside his cell. An orb of red as before. Well – enforced with high magic. He could probably bash it in. If he wished…. Then, why was he so still?

This almost alien feeling of confusion washed over her as Eris saw a human cowering behind those barred walls. Not, a god's child.

~Are you sleeping soundly, little wretch? ~ Eris called over to the boy, who'd tried to escape before Charl had hung him out to dry.

Charl in his doggie winged's form, groomed himself as a cat might. ~ He is upset, let him be for now. ~ The shifter implied this, as Raku could drain a person's energies without hesitation. His power was to manifest and to use transmutation to his cause. He was a creator god's half son. A relic who should have been left to rot in the dunes that era.

Now, here it was. Eris actually found him to be a bit, how could she say it…Pitiful and sad in his chains.

~He will make his move if I relent. ~ She told herself. Eris turned back to the boy and stared into his vision from her seat.

~ Just how long will you defy me, child? ~ She frowned as if her world had turned away from her leadership. She was just outside looking in. He'd ruined her good mood! She suddenly felt the urge to turn the tables. His mind was NOT stronger that her own….

Well, it was time to stop the fates from writing any more prophecies…

~Shall I come closer? Do you realize your errors, clearly? ~ Charl gawked as Eris brought out her best Aphrodite impression.

~I think you need to grow into something, a little more to suit…Your male form here is weak…I want to talk to him –

~He's not going to talk to anyone…~ Raku finally muttered out.

Eris smiled as she skipped over to her captive on a cherub's cheery wings. ~You are awake! Was it that hard to let it all go? ~ She tilted her head while in mid – air. ~Am I that different in wanting a clean slate as HE was with our realms? –

~He does not answer, he cannot exist. ~ Raku forced out his reply, harshly and hoping that Eris would quit prodding him for answers he did not own up to.

Could not…

~Liar, I see him there. He always had the upper hand. Why, is it oh -so mad to want power? ~

~I control no one, Aiden is free. ~

~He is not. ~ Eris shook her head with a no, not seeing the shock in the boy's stare.

~How? I released –

~His fate is sealed. ~ Eris sighed and leaned up against the walled prison as any other. Not fearing a revolt. He was too weak, not a threat to her…Yet.

~You judged him as being, less than human. You wanted someone to share in your sins. We all want that, when we crave attention. So, did you and he –

~We were once enemies. No, comrades…We had lost faith…He's afraid of me! ~ Raku clutched his skull and shut his eyes tightly. Still crouched into a ball on the base of his shell – prison.

~He should be. ~ Eris smirked. ~ You, were birthed by a god and a witch of Sumerian ages. You were meant to have, never to be had –

~That is why your loyalty is lost. ~ Raku shook his head, turning his gaze to the side and tried to open his eyes slowly.

~You wanted to hang me, yet you thought killing off my allies would work best. You want to use my alter selves as mere tools to see to this, yet they will hang us both! I refuse to help you! –

~Then why not a favor for a favor? ~ Eris grinned and swung up against the bars. ~I could not drink you silly, I could not beat you blindly enough, and I could not make you suffer with sins so deep that the waters of your country now are milked dry by this same –

~You cannot convince me. Kill me off, I am ready to repent. ~ His bitterness was a tasty prize as Eris felt her Chaotic self simmering full off….Oh, dear…You never knew a god until he left you speechless.

~You'd die? Are you stupid! I will kill your chosen! I will kill your comrades! ~ Eris giggled in her euphoric and evil joy. ~You cannot do a thing if you are dead at MY feet. Will you just, here out my request –

~N-

~AGGGH!~ As Eris let the kid's arms redden with fire and torch – heat, she knew of Ares. He would claim her prize before she could…He was dead, but first?

~I won't let you free. Not until you bring them to me. The Sun – children are not far from one other. A child who houses an Ethereal maiden and a goddess of Concordia resides in a pupil of another relic…~ Eris pulled Raku to face her by magic chains, unwound.

~Pretty, pitiful, pet; Where is the one who can free you now? ~

~They are…Safer, this way –

~You are a coward. ~ Eris tossed the tween back as he hit the wall. Stuck on his hands and knees, he wasn't going to break easily.

~I'm being to gentle with you. We need to fix that before my beloved returns with the traitors' heads. So…~ She dragged him to hang by his wrists as his feet dangled below the boy, the floor so far off.

The cage started to crack a bit as Eris made her way through its walls. She smiled as if this tainted feeling was why she chose to forsake her vengeance for a while.

~You, will…Sick –

~Agh! ~

~Did you recall it? That time in Arcadia? The realm of the many kings? I was there; you were after one more. And know this…~ She let her apples fall by the dozen to pummel poor Raku from every angle.

~ You opened up my world, don't you know it? Love? No! I know nothing! Apples from the air, now…Time to join him! ~

She gripped one apple and brought it forth. Raku waited and then –

KICK! *

He swung out his legs and hit her to touch the bars. His legs reached by his arms at the top and were so easy to keep hidden. Eris growled, then snorted before laughing aloud.

~HUUH? You think I'm a threat? That is funny! Oh, gods! You are the one I've come to claim! I want that power source in place of HIS! Give it up to me…Now! ~

She gripped the apple in her teeth and held it there. Her limbs bent as wiry boughs. She climbed to meet Raku's limbs and used her teeth to –

~Agh!~ He cried out as she laughed louder from above.

~Monkey in a cage! You've been had! Hahahahaahaha!~ Raku bit his lip and found the wound to be, puffy. Like bat or vermin had…

~No….NO! ~~ Raku knew poison. Lil had trained him, as we as Sara from his time as a child.

~My apple is tantalizing, no? ~ Eris grinned from ear to ear, then swung down to meet the squirming thing in chains before her.

~I don't want to kill you…does it hurt that badly? ~ She cutely asked the screaming child. Seemingly a pitying goddess, she did not hide her disdain well enough.

Raku groveled as his whole body ached full of the potent apple's influence. ~ No…N- no….no…. p…p…pain!...I…. It….it-time…. I –

~Oh my! Charl! Bring the antidote, will you? ~

Charl bounded over and played along. ~Antidote? Your apple is without a cure! The venom was from its sap, malady –

Raku was drooling a bit due to the pain. Somehow, he was still human in this form…He could avert –

~Don't think so…! ~ Eris used her magic to hold the kid from her, so he could not get any brilliant ideas to rip her apart while apart of this, fever dream – illusion.

~Gah!~

She mockingly brought a hand to his forehead. ~I see, you are burning up! ~ She finally revealed her hidden intentions as a dancing pair of ghoulies and demon kin had sirens on time of their hats, coming by with a cartoon – esque stretcher of pure white. His bed, he had to fight her now!

~You are terribly warm, Charl! Show this boy to our best rooms, will you? ~

Charl gawked at the goddess's change of heart. She was playing at something, and he did not like that look in her red eye the most.

~Y…Yes, Madame…~ He bowed and reverted to his pup form. He'd not show the boy his scowl in a human skin relic as the pup walked beside the long stretcher. He had to speak with Eris…

As the doorway shut and Eris had known her fun, Charl stopped and turned to her in his male's guise again.

~What was this change just now? –

~What? That? I'm thinking, can't you tell? ~ Eris turned to the Shifter being and shrugged her shoulders.

As if not caring about the plan…

Oh…

~Are you at odds with another? You can talk with I, your loyal –

~Shifting – lips? Quiet, if you please and I shall tell you all I've come to conclude. ~ She snipped back; as Charl, reverted to his winged – doggie body.

~I have an idea, and the apple was key. If Ares is not on our side, he could keel me off quickly. ~ She gritted her fists and recalled her lover's last stand.

~Ah…so, the boy then? –

~Like any power source's magic, it is used by the greater fighter to have his wishes made true. As a vision. So, I want it to show Ares that I can run this plane without his worrisome commitment. ~ She floated back to her seat and sighed into the space which ran rich with a magic aura that was not her own, but Raku's. It had been so sad to see a godless child fall like he had.

~Is he not half - mortal, a liar to his kind for eons? ~ Charl questioned from below Eris's throne.

~He is now, but he does not show it for good reason. His mortality was destroyed by a trial set long, long ago. ~

Eris looked to the doorway, where not a soul seemed to wish to greet her as before. ~By, a goddess of the Netherworld of Egypt and beyond. ~ She claimed quietly.

~Could be a miss – type. ~ Charl used his hind legs to scratch his tall ears, as he reverted to show his support to his queen. ~Raku could be just a shell of his human side; his guise is then, elsewhere –

~As the boy of the Golden Dawn concluded, he is not as he seems to anyone. He is a life – stealer AND granter…~ She rubbed her chin thoughtfully.

~Only one other knew of this sworn oath and I wish to call them out –

~Ardius, or the wizarding fool? Or maybe…. Not she! She is dead! She'll erase our worlds! –

~By gods, never! ~ Eris looked back, in awe of what Charl had just described.

~I would not let some two – bit daemon scoundrel have at my glory! No, it would be the Wizard and the Goddess who aided Azag in erecting that piece of trash. ~ She smirked and looked at the door until a vision came about, right onto its frame. A moving film reel of events…

~As it stands, Astarte and Lady Isis or, Isa are on separate sides. They are to their own ends by how they defy my newly - born order. ~ She decided that if one boy wasn't enough to convince the Universal to see things her way, then the world would bloom and then die as it withered to filth - along with the humans who'd destroyed it prior to her arrival.

~Isa was the one who reared the child Ava, the Titan of Earth's adopted child and Reincarnate of Reia…As the rumors may go…~ Charl nervously added.

~You have gathered a great deal. You said you were an imposter on the Eternal plane for a time, yes? ~

~I was, as Lord Dreamwake I believe. He was not easy to be rid of while I did my good deed. ~ (Charl impersonated Dreamwake in previous arcs.)

~Whatever ruler you aided then, relinquish it. ~ Eris eyed the cowering daemon as he bowed to his queen immediately.

~I am your ruler now, Obey and you may have a place to call your own sanctuary. ~ She leaned into her chair and called the pup closer, only to have him return as a half-winged male, kneeling down into her parted legs…

~I tire, keep me entertained…As long as I may enjoy this company…~

She looked to him with eyes of lust and impatience.

She wanted Ares to be jealous, it was so clear. As Charl did to licking as dogs did, her mewls could only be described as a wave of passionate reconnection with the senses as Charl hopped at the task eagerly.

A goddess with desire in her blood, and vengeance to her soul. She was more demon every day that she stayed on this path to conquest. It was no wonder she wanted to birth monsters on Earth once it had fallen to dust.

He continued to lap up her sweat and sweet juices as she bucked under the ex - knight's coaxing fingers.

She grunted and let out a sound similar to that of a cat, not a mewling kitten's purr.

She lifted herself to have a better time as Charl dug a bit…. Closer…

Deeper, softly, harder…. both…nothing!

She came into it all, his hands of sap that no tree of life could hope to produce in its lifetime.

He smiled and had the scent and musk of her power upon him. His blood burned for as much release as she had already given. She panted and beckoned Charl on with her winded huffing, her breadth coxing him to finish the job.

~You were so tense…No good, malady…~ He inched closer and held a hand to her face; his gloves removed of the stench and slime that coated them. A service, tonight, before they both slept forever in sin and eternal pleasure…

She gazed back with a glazed set of red and blue. Her pink flesh was too young to tell her exact age anymore. She wanted to revert, yet this body needed to be reminded that it had nothing else to give.

~ Now…Please, allow me to fix that…Mademoiselle…~ He called to her flesh as it beckoned to be cast away into a land of desire. Without Ares, or Destiny to bring her back weeping…

~Do, what you will. Please me, and make me forget his touch…~

/

The night carried with it a calm from the above, while the Titans' tower was not only a dangerous safe hold, but a waning fortress of solitude as well.

However, in the city where zombies still awoke from their muddied graves….

Lisa screamed.

As her band rushed the group into finding higher ground, two mates had already stayed behind. Yet, if this were wonderland or Pannie's Labyrinth, then the rockers needed to find a way home, and quickly!

~I see dead people….Everywhere! ~ As the thoughts of the few escalated once their team was torn in two, Lisa had reason to fight and for Alicia, to awaken to join her vessel in battle.

Alicia's light pulsed through the eighteen year old's ski as she cried out in surprise.

~I'm not an object! Be careful! ~ Alicia understood and turned down the heat to medium before her vessel's goose was cooked to perfection.

~Too soon, this could not have come at a better time –

~Aware of that!~ Lisa snorted, then dodged a zombie's bite with her axe in hand to come in handy.

~Then, what can I do? I sense dark magic in all directions! We must not lose our –

"Lis! What the heck was that!?" Her mates at all angles were frightened, confused and dirtied by the fight against these dead -walking anomalies.

"I…I have to get back to California!" She blurted this out, nervously. Earning a sigh from Alicia, the princess believed it too late to stay silent.

~She is not the only one seeking to defend your plane, I supppose. ~

"Ghost? What the hey -o?! Is this a bad dream or….That time in San – remo? Are you connected! –

~ Those beings are not for you to comprehend. We must hurry! ~

None doubted or questioned Alicia as Lisa was overtaken by the Ethereal and Immortal soul. She made it to the station where luck would have it, another was there waiting…and he did look very much like a comic book villain.

~I recognize that monstrous male! ~ Alicia shouted and ran at the foe recklessly, before a face appeared to further darken the reddened sky above.

~My sister….It is not as you think –

~That man started our pains by siding with an enemy! We have yet to stop this wa –

~And he and I are willing a truce to meet those needs, so please….Alice…~

The face Lisa; or Alicia made, was that of shock and something greater. She had not seen Cici in so long. Her main form was of the cove to the Crescendo line. Her hair was still short, not as a relic of beauty, yet of mourning eras.

~You, could be a trick. A false image created by our new foe –

~If I were, why would I refuse to attack?~

Lisa pursed her lips and tried to keep calm. Anger would come to nothing. Many a human had already fallen to Eris and Ares' whims for a better world…

~I want to trust, yet what you have done…! –

~My head is clear, for I see that now. ~ Cici floated down and met eye to eye with her twin's vessel. Her loathing for Lisa having been involved in their affairs, it was not hers to say. Cici was not willing to force Alice to love for the sake of her own wants. Love, was an unfettered thing; a cosmic change and a roll of the die, wherever it lead. It had no roadmap, nor a compass.

She did not want to sully her sister's wings any longer. She wanted to watch the world turn as any other spirit might imagine it to be a second place of dreams made tangible. For a witch of the shadowy nothings, she had less to care for than she once pondered. Long ago.

"As she said; we have a truce in place, that the guardians might help to rid Eris from this world for good." Slade finished up, making Cici feel stronger by his presence so far.

Lisa stood and stepped back. Her mind reeling and her desire to return to Aiden, to tell him that they were friends for always…

"I will trust you, this time." She pointed Slade's direction to declare;

~Yet if you harm any of my comrades in this war, your skull will be tossed into the pit of ends for the nightmares to dictate your last remains on this plane! ~

Cici nodded and Slade, he just wanted to go back to Kansas. Was that so hard to ask?

~We will return as you've decided. I wish no harm to come to my own flesh and blood. ~ Cici bowed and the team behind Lisa gawked at the gothic woman's grace and posterity.

"Then let us ride, ah, so where to –

~I can answer that. ~ Cici smirked and waved her arm to carry them away. The team of Lisa's had to be protected as well, so she dumped them off with a few heroes…

/

Ami's doubt increased. Her brother was not only acting stranger than fiction, he was the one in a role he'd not asked to play - and also? She could tell by his aura.

He had a shadow that should NOT have been there. Anna was crying like a kid version of herself. Ava might know, but instead? Ami went to find Aunt Raven.

It was finally time to tell her everything her dad might have already guessed (by their Tokyo trip – and - fall - expose.)

Raven was tending to Aiden's memories. That was, until Shoji entered the room. Ami fled down the hall and as soon as he had entered, she rushed up to the door on tip toe to listen in. Kaede was on her side, still keeping watch as Koko stayed with Zatanna to concoct a cure for the chosen inn another part of the tower. They could stay connected telepathically, but not for very long.

~I guess he's fighting it…That possession. ~

Ami clapped a hand over her mouth and motioned for Kaede to go full kitsune for a bit. Kaede rolled her eyes and waited beside her tiny mistress. She could not dare recall a time when her pride meant so little…

Raven's words answered the dog back, as if she had just learned of this matter.

~What did Alue tell you? ~ She wanted to know. He had more insight awake than while asleep beside the now tiny Kay in the living room.

/

~She said, there is a breach we should be aware of, and not to tamper. Same ole' Al –

" Be serious, Shoji." Raven reverted from her speak once she knew it was safe to continue.

"Should we do something about Aiden? He's back in his coma and none of us know the cure."

"Rae? I said it, didn't I? That we wouldn't let those –

"You aren't guardians to us only, anymore! You are too close…. to be –

"WE are more." He reverted to his warrior's form and frowned down at the worried empath.

"I let you all down. When I left… Kaien went off the deep end with his stunt, he killed like his old self. I want to try to make it up-

"Not the point. You lied. You were connecting the breach to the lab where YOU allowed that goddess to take over the earth."

"Are you…No! Concordia? You mean, Aggie? She broke free! I swear! I cannot apologize –

"Without Chaos, there can be no Order." Raven stated this clearly, and Ami had to let her imagination go on for a bit.

"Why?" Raven pleaded with the male. "Why did you create a goddess like that one? She's why Eris is –

"Eris, went loco in our book. To you, she's only a metaphor. Just a warning to those who let their ego loose onto the world."

"Lilith was the same, and –

"I got it, jeez…!" Veravakumu nervously rubbed the back of his neck, clearing his throat to further push her into staying far from his secrets…

"Why did you unleash the power alchemy; with your company, and as a way to fight a deadly virus that your family –

"Heck if I thought Ronnie's warning meant shit!" He shouted back. "I, never realized that we had been too late." His words hurt her, at least she'd felt the sting by now. It had been so many years since that fox – being had come to the tower to warn the Titans about Roku's return.

"We've been through enough. Kori cannot handle anymore stress on her relationship with her family. Her children are being used, and you knew –

"Anyone could have painted that picture." Kay fazed through the wall and startled his angry cousin, who was blue in the face!

"Knock, why don't you? Zakenna! This is ridiculous!" Vee shook his head and sternly turned to the dark side; his emotions were a hazy torrent of negative energy. Raven could guess that he'd gotten little sleep the night before. He looked dead as a zombie…

"We should end this discussion then." Raven decided this firmly, with a low nod. Shoji had a god's path to follow. He was an Immortal by rite and she…Could be smote by a darkness deity as much as it took her the entire session to allow his berating her in front of others…. From his party, to go on…

"C'mon at it, cousin." Kay put a hand on Vee's shoulder. "We can hush it for now, do our part in the morning. How bout it?"

Sighing, Vee reeled in his angst and let that moment narrow to a short halt. "Yeah, I…Need to rest up. I'm sorry, Raven…That was uncalled for."

"It's this world, this space like you said before." She recalled a similar scenario in the past as the two nodded to one another.

"Take him to one of the extra rooms." Raven told Kay as the light fox agreed.

"Got it, major." He grinned back to lighten both his friends' moods. Friends. Huh.

Down the way, Ami had to hide with a masking spell. She and Kaede tiptoed towards the door as they'd sealed away their presence from the disappearing doggie duo.

"You needed a real conk on the noggin."

"No, Vee here needs a nap. You, can dance along on outta here." Snorted the black doggie.

"Poor Raven had high hopes for our return. Yet here we are, duking it out! What gives –

"I think my head isn't in this…" As Veravakumu spoke, Kayu's tone reverted to that of his lowest tone. A tone of disappointment, and of heavy criticism towards his cousin's loyalty. He turned towards Verra and looked very serious. As if his energy had become as unpredictable as ever again.

"What are you on about, now? Huh? If Hakuro's magic was that intense, then we should settle this –

"No, I mean…I don't know what I saw, but Aiden…" Kay lowered his arm down. He got that…He was upset. And to top it all off, Verra knew that he had been the one.

His real-life losses.

His 'outsmarting' of the criminal underground's best and worst to boot.

The pact and promise to Isis as Roku's reign only took hold of –

"You, still think it's not going to work…" Kay had seen into his ally's thoughts. Vee looked back, afraid to answer.

"Eris is corrupted, but Raku…If he goes along with one more fuck – up…He'll be erased for good." Vee swallowed and remembered his chat with Alue while she was still present mentally.

~Raku is a story - teller by rite, that is so to say of the present day, he may act with his pen in hand to write the ending of the Forbidden Myth. ~

"Are you still out to put the boy down some more? He's not going to rule the world without –

"Without reason to save his contracted? I believe that's already come to pass."

"But if Eris took him…! –

"Then we have to warn the rest of the Titans of Earth. If Eris somehow has Raku making any promises to protect his only ally in the world right now –

"No, he's…He's unstable? That we knew, but…"

"Alue knew it, so did Vespa. She saw the future and it cannot be changed. Unless Aiden wakes up to stop it in time, we can only stop the demon army ourselves for old times' sake." Vee corrected as Kay had run out of breath trying to keep up.

"Yes but, he's a kid! How much magic can he wield in that…?" Kay turned white as a ghost.

"She wouldn't! –

"He's a power source." Verra stated as the two walked faster down the hallway. "Eris thinks he'd be a great asset, a tool. But little will she know –

"He's one of the deadly kind. Not like the rest." Kay furrowed his brow and saw just how this nightmare would end. Aiden had the only power in the world that could save Raku, but that left it next to nil. They had no one else while his coma raged on!

/