Está es mi vida
That night the Titans all settled into the living room for a movie. The usual arguing occurred between Cyborg and Beast Boy but before they could get too far the power cut which plunged the team into darkness. The moon didn't supply any light since it was cloudy and stormy outside.
"Great." Robin could be heard to have muttered.
"Hey, maybe we could use Cyborg like a giant flashlight." BB suggested before he attacked the mechanical Titan.
"Hey, I'm not a giant flashlight!" Cyborg called out into the darkness.
Outside droplets of rain could be heard splattering on the massive windows.
"Perhaps I could prove to be useful." Tear's voice came from a lot closer to Raven then she expected. Raven turned to look in the direction of where Tear's voice had come from and she noticed his eyes glowing red just a few centimeters from her own eyes.
"Sure, what ever you can do would be appreciated." Robin answered Tear.
The room was suddenly bathed in a bright dancing red and orange light. Everyone covered their eyes with their hands from the sudden light. Slowly everyone lowered their hands and what they saw simply shocked them. Tear was standing next to Raven, flames dancing around and on him.
When Raven noticed this she gave out a surprised yell and jumped over the couch and landed on the floor with a loud thud.
Tear sighed audibly, went around the couch and picked Raven up into his arms, and placed back on the couch. "For one that wields an aspect of Dark energy you can't even identify the simplest forms of energy." Tear said in his usual disapproving tone.
Raven couldn't help but blush out of embarrassment. Tear had a way of somehow getting to Raven and he knew it. Raven was aware of this fact and was thankful that Tear normally only embarrassed her when they were alone together during their brief visits over Tear delivering breakfast. On occasions, such as now, Tear would simply say something that made him a pompous stuffed arrogant bastard and embarrass Raven while displaying his superiority as a Demon.
"You're very arrogant." Starfire plainly pointed out having just realized this fact.
The males all backed Starfire up while Raven regained her composure.
"When you have survived what I have, you are entitled to be arrogant. Besides, plasma is a simple form of super heated energy. It is not hard to control." Tear said looking down at Raven who glared back at the glowing cloaked boy.
"Man, you always talk about yourself but you've never told us anything about yourself." Cyborg informed Tear.
Tear looked at Cyborg, thought a moment, decided that is was true and sat himself down on the living room table. Tear gave a sweeping look over the room locking eyes with each member of the team. BB leaned forward giving Tear his attention, Cyborg was leaning back against the couch listening, Starfire cuddled up against Robin leaning her head against his shoulder, Robin had his arms around Star's waist as both listened to Tear, and Raven couldn't help but lean a little forwards in anticipation. She knew next to nothing about the Demonic past or what life was like for other Demons.
"Just remembered you asked for this." Tear told the tentative group of super teens. He gazed at the group once more as if to dare them to back out but none did. The only reaction he got was Starfire unconsciously tried to burrow closer to Robin for protection against whatever Tear would dish out. Tear's normal calm cold voice, the darkness of night, the occasional flash and rumble from the storm, the pitter patter for the rain on glass, and ultimately the flames that lit the room all added up for a great atmosphere to tell a scary or gruesome tale.
"My number was 352. For that to make any sense I suppose I should explain that the Tanar'ri are the strongest of the Demonic creatures. We are in fact the most powerful creatures on this plane." Tear started out and earning himself several skeptical looks from his audience.
"What's a plane?" Star asked.
"A plane is another level of existence or dimension. There are many different planes within a plane. Normally planes are used to refer which major dimensions a being is from." Raven explained. Tear merely nodded his head in agreement before continuing.
"You may think me boasting but only need to look in the history books of either the Heavens or the Nine Hells. Both will tell you that in the battle of Broken Wall, which occurred in Demonic year 10082 or 2762 BC, it was a small group of Tanar'ri known as the Red Hand that held the lines when this plane, Prima Plane, was invaded by an army from the Delvav Plane." Tear paused for a moment as if to remember the battle but he moved on having decided to not tell that story.
"That battle and the resulting campaign into that plane were led by Tanar'ri fighters at the head. We are stronger, tougher, faster, and deadlier then the other power of this plane, the Heaven's Archangels. We became thus because of our rigorous training among other reasons." Once again Tear paused to remember something and once again he pressed on leaving the Teens Titans to wonder what he was thinking about.
"As I said my number was 352. Because of our great strength and the great difficulty to control such blood thirsty creatures the Tanar'ri were engineered to be infertile to each other and most other creatures that could produce viable deadly offspring." Tear continued.
"So no children? Even if you want to have them?" Cybrog asked.
"The only option to a Tanar'ri is to adopt heirs or "nephews" and "nieces". The one Baalor that I shoved out the window was heir to my estates. The only option to conceive a child would be to mate with a member of the Untouchables. Di'Candra is among that class, the children of the Dark Lord or those of his harem who are genetically compatible with most sentinel creatures." Tear said turning to Raven as did everyone else.
Raven gave Tear a look that said "Ain't going to happen." Tear simply smirked in response.
"Wait a minute. If you can't have kids then how do you get more Tanababa… More of you!" Beast Boy asked waving his arms about.
"I told you, we mate with the Satanic harem. Who or whatever a Tanar'ri with normally has little influence over a Tanar'ri's genes. For the most part we are simply replications of the father with a few differences depending on what the mother was. Who was what is forbidden knowledge and even I do not know my linage. We are created and birthed in an "egg" of sorts. We lay dormant until awaken by a Summoner who frees us from our shells. A normal batch of Tanar'ri newborns is 500. Because there are so many and only one will survive the training we are just given a number."
"That's so cruel…" Starfire murmured.
Even Raven was inclined to agree.
"Perhaps but that is why Tanar'ri are the most powerful on this plane barring, of course, the Gods. Normal punishment for a servant may be a few lashes depending on the fault and harshness of the master. It was 100 lashes for something as simple as not standing at attention properly. I once received 1000 for talking back at an instructor Demon." Everyone winched at the shear number of lashes. Tear strangely smiled his knowing smile. "Another reason that we are so strong is that each Tanar'ri has the ability to regenerate. That ability is enhanced and worked just as our ability to withstand pain, the building up of our durability. We would fight mock battles that lasted days, weeks, and sometimes months without much food or rest. We were worked to such extremes that truly only the strong survived the 200 year preliminary training. By then the average number of survivors is about 20-30. These Tanar'ri would have developed special abilities unique to them or excelled in an area that few would dare challenge them. My own specialty was enhanced regeneration. I'm rather small for a Tanar'ri and thus I was picked on the most. My wings had been severed off quite early in my training making less mobile then my brethren. That forced me to regenerate at faster rates to compensate for all the wounds I would receive."
"So that's why you got all those scars?" Beast Boy asked.
"No, I regenerated my skin which also hardened to the armor that it is now. Upon reaching the finals each of the survivors were granted the right to choice a letter. I choose "T". The significance of the letter showed that we had become worthy enough to be recognized as a person. This section of the training is called "The Naming" because it is during these last 50 years that we earn our right to have a name; the right to be a citizen of the Nine Hells. I graduated the sole survivor of my class in 9832 or in 3012 BC. I then worked my way up the ranks fighting, killing, raping, pillaging, and destroying people and places as my first Lord Devil commanded." Tir'eir said as casually as he would be discussing food.
The team, however, had very different reactions.
"You did all of those in that order?" Robin asked.
"Occasionally the raping first but generally yes."
Tear's reply made Robin tighten his grip around Starfire. Cyborg was eying Tear with new found suspicion, Beast Boy looking at Tear in disbelief that he could be talking about doing such things calmly, and Raven, who had been holding onto a pillow, had clutched it tight to her chest, her knuckles white and fear flared in her eyes as Raven remembered the event that had occurred not too long ago.
"That is another reason Tanar'ri and most other Demons are not compatible with humans. Imagine the world if there had been human-Demon half-breeds running amok. And do not look so judgingly Beast Boy for you yourself have killed and killing a Baalor is the same as killing a little girl or a grown man." Tir'eir said off handedly.
"Will you stop acting as if it's a casual thing?! DEATH IS STILL DEATH!" BB yelled at the fiery figure.
"If you take it too seriously it will consume you. Just act the fact and more on lest you will be devoured from within. I've plenty of blood on my hands, 5 millennia is sufficient time to cause a lot of pain and grief for many. I've killed a pair of Baalors, one of them my own heir, in the defense of Di'Candra and I do not burden myself with it. I killed and slaughtered my way into the elite ranks of the Red Hand. When Trigon, Di'Candra's father took over the Hells I became his right hand man. That was in 13582 or 752 AD. I grew stronger and more absentminded because of my power. Back then I was an 'arrogant bastard' Di'candra." Tir'eir said with a laugh. An actual loud and hearty laugh. Raven couldn't help but smile at Tear for a brief moment.
"It was in 15022 or 1492 AD when the Delvav invasion came. After the Eight Year War I rebelled against Trigon and imposed self-exile on myself. You'll be happy to know I haven't bedded a maiden, forcefully or otherwise, in over 500 years nor have I done much that the Tanar'ri are infamous for. However to answer your question Beast Boy it is only in the last 500 years that I have chosen not to allow my scars to heal over. However, scars made by higher creatures, such as Di' Candra, leave scars no magic can heal." Tear said directing his gaze at Raven.
Raven shifted uneasy under Tir'eir gaze. Like everyone else she thought that his story just made him more alien and evil then before though the fact that he was a survivor did get him a few good will points. "So what happened at Broken Wall?" Raven asked to shift the discomfort onto Tear.
"That is for another day Di'Candra." Tear said as the lights came back on and he disappeared to the shadows once more.
A/N: Thanks for all the reviews guys. I guess that people actually read my work then and that this isn't a waste of time as my friends say it is. Well I hope this clears up some of Tir'eir past. Keep in mind that most of this Demonological stuff is being made up by me based on only basic knowledge. Well REVIEW and brace yourselves for another Robin Starfire chapter!